Solitary Trooper - The Redux
by Ominae
Summary: A rewrite of the original Solitary Trooper story by rx79guntank with permission granted to align it with manga canon. ARCAM is under siege by mysterious enemies and their newest Spriggan from their American branch is recalled to undergo a top secret mission. As the might of their enemies grows tighter, the Spriggans are in for the fight of their lives.
1. Priors

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige, Ryoji Minagawa and FROM SOFTWARE. Characters from the original _Solitary Trooper_ are from rx79guntank, who also gave permission to rewrite it. All others are under yours truly.

Summary:

A rewrite of the original _Solitary Trooper_ story by rx79guntank with permission granted to align it with manga canon. ARCAM is under siege by mysterious enemies and their newest Spriggan from their American branch is recalled to undergo a top secret mission. As the might of their enemies grows tighter, the Spriggans are in for the fight of their lives.

Chapter 1: Priors

* * *

Lobby, Clover Heavy Industries Building, Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America

* * *

A black-haired Caucasian man with a black jacket that resembled an ordinary leather jacket alongside black pants, gloves and a dark blue windbreaker walked inside an office building in downtown Anchorage. Inside the lobby, most of the employees went home for the day as it was evening, except for those who either are in meetings later at night or are doing overtime to ensure that their work was really done.

The said building, however, belonged to Clover Heavy Industries, Inc. In particular, it houses most of its Alaskan-based sales and marketing divisions with some floors occupied for its R&D and research divisions.

Like Campbell Plc and Takasumi Corporation Ltd., the latter known informally in Japan as Takasumi Zaibatsu, even though the name is no longer used, it was one of the few corporations in the world that made the decision of having its own personal security division. They have never outsourced their security needs to various private security companies that specialized in using static or mobile protection due to "security concerns" that they would not publicly discuss.

"Hey you!" A CHI security guard of African-American origin walked away from the security desk and approached the unknown individual. "The office is closed except for those who are CHI employees and official visitors." He saw the young man wore his hood on so that his face and head can be concealed.

The young man stared at the security guard in front of him, his face concealed with the jacket hood. The guard, on the other hand, as the standard uniform with the patch of the CHI security division sewn on the shirt's arms with the patch illustrating the British archipelago. The words CLOVER HEAVY INDUSTRIES on the upper portion and SECURITY on the lower portion.

 _Looks like they're armed with a pistol, pepper spray, retractable baton and cuffs with a vest. Has an earpiece on his left ear with a radio shoulder microphone. Just like the briefing mentioned from intelligence._

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm here to escort Dr. Harry Palmer from the vicinity ASAP. I've been told that he's greatly distressed," The young man replied.

The guard eyed the strange visitor very carefully. "I'm afraid Dr. Palmer is not here, sir. You probably got the wrong place."

Not bothered by the reply, the young man continued to answer the guard. "Nah... I'm sure I got the right place. I was told by concerned parties that the scientist was brought here. Some of them have mentioned that the scientist was brought here against his will while yelling that he was being kidnapped."

 _Dammit._

The guard decided to press the PTT button on the radio shoulder microphone clipped on his shoulder epaulette. But before he could use it, the young man grabbed the guard and executed a shoulder throw.

"Why you...!" The downed guard was about to reach for his sidearm. But before he could do that, the intruder quickly punched him in the face to render him out cold.

A surveillance camera picked up the action at the lobby as the guard was disarmed for his baton, pepper spray and radio. On the other hand, he took the pistol and unloaded the magazine before the guard was cuffed with his arms behind his back. After the intruder kept the magazine and the cuff key, he picked up the pistol and disassembled it by removing the slide and throwing it to the nearest trash can so that the weapon won't be used.

* * *

Security Room, Clover Heavy Industries Building, Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America

* * *

CHI guards saw the intruder take out one of their own at the lobby, which resulted in the rapid mobilization of its security personnel. All entrances and exits were sealed off with shutters and armed security to prevent the intruder from escaping. Three of them were inside the room to monitor the feeds with the others deployed throughout the premises.

"That guy has to be one of those Spriggan agents sent from ARCAM." One of the guards, an East Asian man in his mid 30s, commented after the intruder went inside on the elevators leading to the 30th floor, where the main area for the company's R&D division is located. The camera feeds didn't show what happened next, other than the intruder's casual walk towards the elevator.

"But where did he go? If only we had camera feeds from the elevator cars," The second guard of Caucasian origin with brown hair replied. As they were aware, elevator cars currently don't have security cameras inside due to being made in 2000 with additional budget problems from a delay, which meant that replacements were due for another year.

"He's probably using the blind spots to hide from us."

The third guard, also of East Asian background, was about to reply to a transmission when he was knocked out due to a silent chokehold from the rear, which lasted for a couple of minutes. The two guards didn't notice what was happening until they heard something drop violently from behind.

"Looking for me, guys?"

The intruder had shown up in the security room, which nearly surprised the guards inside. They decided to charge towards him with their batons drawn out.

"This won't do," The intruder calmly said as he used the pepper spray to blind the guards as the non-lethal weapon was sprayed at their eyes.

"AAGH!" The guards were blinded by the spray, forcing them to drop their weapons.

With that done, the intruder extended the baton and used to strike the guards by their legs. This forced them to kneel down. That was followed with strong blows to the back of their heads to knock them out.

 _Let's go._ Looking at the camera feeds, they show armed CHI guards taking a terrified African-American man through the corridors of the building.

"They can be trying to take him upstairs or downstairs." Listening to the earpiece, the general frequency for all CHI security forces was tapped into from the stolen radio. He took advantage of this to get the professor's location by waiting for a location while he took out surveillance tapes out of the security room in order to leave CHI with no clues to who the intruder is.

When the intruder zipped up his black jacket up to the collar, the sleeves started to bulge out a bit to the point that they slightly look like muscles. He took advantage of this by crushing the tapes with his gloved hands until they can't be easily reassembled to extract the data. Afterwards, he executed rapid punches to take out the security equipment. The artificial strength gave him enough strength to wreck them out of commission.

* * *

Corridor, Clover Heavy Industries Building, Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America

* * *

"I demand to know where I'm going!" The worried Dr. Palmer had yelled to the four CHI guards, all of them Caucasians with a mix of blonde and brown hair, armed with Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine guns outfitted with assault slings. They escorted him away from the 30th floor after they received word that contact was lost with the security room.

"Quiet, doc," One of the MP5K-armed guards replied while he dragged the scientist by his arm. "We're moving out from this floor for your own protection."

"Well it would have been better if your employers didn't abduct me in the first place!"

"Doc, I suggest that you shut your yapping before we bring out the..."

A pistol magazine was seen hurled towards the guard at high speed, trying to utter a threat to the helpless scientist. This made the guard trip, since the hurled magazine was traveling more than the equivalent speed of a Shinkansen.

"Who's there?" The two guards surrounded the doctor as they aimed their weapons all over after one of them saw the discarded magazine on the floor.

"A knocker!" The intruder shouted at the top of his voice when he ran towards them from the back before he executed a jump. He then used a flying kick to kick one of them at the back of his head.

"Aargh!" The first guard crashed towards a few chairs placed on the side.

"Shit!" The close range forced the other two guards to use their retractable batons with their MP5Ks slung on their side.

A knee attack was used to take out the second guard, which struck his stomach. The intruder grabbed his head and brought it at full force to the wall. This rendered him out cold.

The third guard brought his baton up to strike the intruder's head. Instead, the latter used his right arm to block the strike.

"Don't underestimate the suit, buster." The intruder used his gloved left hand to grab the baton and crush it with all of his strength, thanking the stars that the artificial strength was giving him an advantage.

"What the hell are you?" The third guard panicked as he reached out to grab his pepper spray. An elbow thrust, a strong punch and kick to his chest sent him flying down the corridor.

"I'm with the ARCAM Corporation's security department." The intruder helped Dr. Palmer up since he was down on the ground covering his head. "Your old friends back at MIT were worried when you didn't show up for your annual reunion."

"Thank you. I thought ARCAM wouldn't be able to find me." The scientist thanked his savior. "How can I thank you, Mr..."

"Harker. Jonathan Harker." The Spriggan agent nodded at the scientist before he executed a kick to bring down the door, which led to the fire escape.

The professor could only stare at him. He was confused on how he has the power to kick a door down without any equipment with him.

"You can gawk later. We need to leave before more security personnel arrive."

* * *

Rooftop, Clover Heavy Industries Building, Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America

* * *

Jonathan kicked the door down leading to the rooftop from the fire escape staircase, having no time to be polite since CHI security was still in pursuit. He slammed the door and twisted the handle to delay incoming pursued.

"There's our ticket out of here!" Jonathan shouted to Dr. Palmer as they ran towards the helipad. Coming in was an unmarked AgustaWestland AW 119 Ke helicopter in service with ARCAM. Inside was an armed plainclothes agent from the ARCAM Special Private Army, a part of the ARCAM Private Army organization under the company's security department alongside the ARCAM Spriggans. He was of Southeast Asian origin, particularly of Filipino background.

For this operation, the ASPA agent wore a green windbreaker with a hood, brown tactical pants, black tactical gloves and black Oakley SF boots with a balaclava worn to cover his head. He was armed with a Colt M933 carbine outfitted with an ARMS SIRS railed handguard, which had a Surefire M900 weaponlight foregrip and an EOTech 553 holographic sight attached on the handguard. A brass catcher was attached as well to make sure empty brass doesn't fall onto the cabin floor or anywhere else for covert and safety reasons.

"Cover me!" The Spriggan shouted to the ASPA agent.

"Get inside!" The masked ASPA agent shouted back, his Californian accent made known, as he leaped out of the chopper to help Dr. Palmer get inside.

Jonathan moved in with the ASPA agent, being the last person to get in the chopper. As it began to take off, an explosion was heard from the direction of the fire escape door. The ASPA agent shouldered his M933 and opened fire on CHI guards as the chopper continued to ascend in an effort to keep them pinned down despite having their pistols drawn out.

"Won't this be in the news?" Dr. Palmer asked Jonathan as he closed the cabin door since they were out of the range for their pistols' effective range.

"Don't worry, doc. You'll be fine," Jonathan assured the doctor as removed the hood from his head. "You'll still be able to make it to San Francisco and present your report on the OOPArt you found in the Yukon. CHI won't try to publicize the attack since they want to keep their involvement as a secret."

The ASPA agent finished reloading his weapon when he got a folded piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to Jonathan. "You got some stuff to do once we arrive back at base."

The Spriggan raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"Said something about heading to Tokyo."

"All right. I'll have a look."

"I'll keep watch on the doc while you do that."

He unfolded the papers read the contents quickly, obviously written in English. He leaned back on the chair, trying to relax since the mission was over.

 _You're moving to Tokyo ASAP. Got a new case handed to you by New York._

He mused on the message as he crumpled the paper in his hands. Ever since he got to ARCAM after leaving on an honorable discharge from the American military, Jonathan was swamped with either missing VIPs the company deem important to be rescued/protected, engage armed groups on OOPArt artifact sites and support fellow Spriggans in areas where they can only rely on their own forces. This includes armed assaults against a well-equipped mercenary force, which he later found out that the name was Trident.

 _If I recall, I need to trail some college student and protect her from whoever wants to kidnap her. I wonder who wants her anyway? This mission should be easy enough than those days back in Force Recon and in MSOR back in Afghanistan and Iraq._

* * *

Passenger Cabin, ARCAM Airlines Boeing 747-400ER

* * *

Jonathan found himself in the First Class section of an ARCAM Airlines flight bound from Anchorage to Narita, having time to freshen up before he changed clothes again in ARCAM's Anchorage office. This time, he wore a black softshell jacket with a hood, brown tactical pants and a pair of 6" black Altama Ortho-TacX boots.

ARCAM Airlines was a newcomer to the airline industry when it first debuted in 1997, as part of a series of attempts by the ARCAM Corporation to branch out to viable industries aside from conducting archaeological researches, lectures and exhibits. So far, it has some moderate success since it also used its airline business as a cargo service. Lately, the airline experienced a boost in customers patronizing it due to competitive fares that were affordable and better from other airlines. Sometimes, there were sold at lower prices.

 _Looks like I'm alone in this class aside from the usual passengers on board._

While the airline is used to transport passengers to various destinations, it is also used to transport ARCAM personnel, gear and their immediate families at a discount. Because of this, the ARCAM security department used the airline as a method of transporting their agents and their gear without arousing too much suspicion thanks to the influence of the New York main branch in making sure their "things" aren't seized at arrival by local authorities as much as possible.

The ex-US Marine decided to sit back and relax after an African-American steward informed him that six persons were now seated in the same section, all of them high-ranking ARCAM executives either flying back home to Japan or are going to Japan in order to transit to another country that has an ARCAM branch.

"Okay. That's not a problem. Thanks a lot for going out of your way to tell me about this," Jonathan thanked the steward for relaying the information to him.

The steward smiled. "Not at all, sir. Just let me know if you need help with anything else," He walked to another part of the plane to attend to the new arrivals.

The Spriggan sighed and fastened the seat belt around his waist as the PA system announced that the aircraft was about to taxi towards the runway for its flight to Japan. He had hoped that things would go well.

"I better get busy." Jonathan took the Manila envelope he placed at the seat pocket in front of him. Inside were some documents that detailed the personal history of a college student attending school in Tokyo.

He flipped through the pages as the aircraft was now taking off from AIA. What the heck does a college girl have to do with ARCAM's latest black ops mission?

Jonathan buckled his seat belt when the pilot announced on the PA system that cabin crew should get ready for take off.

After all, he decided to take advantage of his bosses paying the fees for him to get a first class seat by ordering whatever good food was going to be offered.

 _Haven't eaten really good food aside from the ones that I can get from a Safeway. Let's see what this airline has to offer before I hit the sack during the flight._

* * *

Mention Japan to anyone and you'd probably get admiration or to an extent, loathing and revulsion. Indeed, nobody can dispute the success that Japan has experienced. Japanese culture, products, language, even the name itself was the rage nowadays. Mention Japan to any teenagers and they'll start waxing lyrical about how they wish they were Japanese, how they wish they were living in Japan, etc… The hub of it all was in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The massive forest of futuristic skyscrapers was the center of all that was Tokyo, housing the main entertainment, shopping and business districts. Not surprisingly, it's a big hit with tourists and the young crowd…

The Shinjuku Park Tower was one such building which represented the image of Shinjuku. One of the most modern skyscrapers, It was the perfect equation of style tranquility, a prime piece of modern architecture designed by the legendary Kenzo Tange himself. Unlike most office buildings, it was home to Tokyo's most exclusive hotel; the Park Hyatt, situated strategically on the upper floors and below were the offices of various multinational companies… including the ARCAM Corporation.

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Excuse me, Kaicho." A woman in her late 20s with long black hair in a ponytail, came inside the director's office after she knocked twice. She was wearing a gray dress shirt, a black pencil skirt, pantyhose and high heels. "The SUV that picked up Mr. Harker has already arrived just now from Narita International."

"Thank you, Yukari," Yamamoto thanked his secretary before the latter showed the American Spriggan inside and left the two of them alone. He frowned a bit for a brief moment.

 _The first Spriggan to be assigned by New York in our new office ever since we relocated from our old office in Yoyogi 2-Chome thanks to the COSMOS aftermath when they raided the place for the Mappa mundi. I hope that doesn't happen again in the near future._

The man knew that New York wanted a change until the board of directors can decide on an alternate location. For now, the building should give ARCAM Japan the strategic advantage in someone has _bright_ lights about attacking the place.

Yamamoto was all smiles when he made the introductions to the Spriggan after the latter entered his office. "Welcome to Tokyo. I'm Chairman Yamamoto, in charge of ARCAM's operations in Japan. I trust you've had a pleasant trip?"

The portly middle-aged man was well known among his peers as a firm, just, and caring individual, fond of drink and smoke, hardly looking like the example of the director of field operations for ARCAM Japan. But yet he was, one of the high executives responsible for supervising the movements of ARCAM's special operatives in the East Asian region.

Opposite of him, his guest sat down in front of his desk with his legs up on his desk, in a clear display of arrogance. But Yamamoto didn't mind. For him, it was just a regular detraction that came with his job.

"Beats Alaska." The gruff reply of Jonathan came out from his mouth.

"Of course." Yamamoto laughed. "I forgot you're just back from your last mission." He lighted up a cigarette. "We've gotten a place ready for you. We can start tomorrow-"

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to begin the mission now."

Yamamoto arched an eyebrow. He was just like what the head office said…

"I had a feeling you say that," Yamamoto replied, taking out a dossier and tossing over to the mysterious individual. "Are you sure you can find your way around here, agent Harker?"

"I'll manage." The individual replied, examining the file with its myriad warnings of secrecy on the cover once more. It was the same copy provided to him back in Anchorage. As he opened it, he noticed a photo of a girl flying loose of the file…

* * *

Somewhere in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Like many major cities and that famous line from that credit card advertisement, Tokyo never really slept. Even if it was past midnight, numerous shops would be open; catering for the insomniacs, late-shift workers and even the odd salaryman out for a late night walk. One such place where these forsaken souls would hang out was the 24-hour game arcade.

In one particular one located in the trendier section of Shinjuku, a battle was raging on. Crowded around a large arcade console, were two groups of girls standing across from each other, exchanging hostile glances. It might have seemed like a normal staredown between gangs, but what set it apart were the girls themselves. The group on the left was bedecked in elegant, spectacular frilled dresses. They wore their hair and lipstick in bizarre colors, with pastel, white makeup to complete their 19th century gothic Lolita look.

The other group sported chocolate-dark tans, bleached hair and skimpier clothing, with garish neon makeup and accessories and massive platform boots to represent the popular Ganguro-style fashion trend of Tokyo. to match. On the massive arcade machine itself stood two of the challengers; a chosen one from each group. The game and object of the challenge was the famous dancing simulation game, Dance Dance Revolution.

The method of playing the game was simple. Players would follow the directions or rather the arrows, displayed on the screen by hitting the corresponding buttons with their feet. By using myriad combinations and fast-paced catchy dance tunes, the game duplicated the very sensation of dancing in a club.

As always, a crowd gathered to watch the intense battle. They stood transfixed as the two players pulled off incredible, even acrobatic moves, trying to outdo each other. But even as hard as they tried, it was apparent who the winner was. With a flourish, the player in the black, elegant gothic dress ended her routine with her opponent, a darkly tanned girl in a pink midriff-baring top and miniskirt who was visibly exhausted.

The Gothic Lolitas erupted in cheers as the scores were shown. The Lolita dancer had scored a triple A, the highest score possible in the game, while the Ganguro dancer could only manage two As after fouling up on a complicated combination earlier. Seeing this, the Lolita dancer sauntered over to gloat over their defeat.

"It looks like you girls lost… again. Now as you were saying, the loser has to leave…"

With a scowl and a rude gesture, the losers left, fulfilling their end of the challenge. And so once again they had managed to reassert their authority. The gothic dancer, was none other than one of the most popular and skilled DDR players in Shinjuku, Mai Shinomari. As her gang celebrates their recent victory against their bitter rivals, the Ganguro girls, she wandered off to her sling bag in search of a drink, exhausted from her battle against the rival gang leader. But then she knew that they'll be waiting to get back even at school…

Bending over for the bottle, she stopped when she heard the polyphonic melody of her handphone. Fumbling through the tresses of her dress, she uncovers it only to find it was just an important alarm she programmed earlier. Grumbling at her reminder, she got ready to leave.

"You going already, Mai? It's still early you know!" asked Erika, Mai's best friend as she peered out from behind another Dance Dance Revolution machine she was sharing with some other member of the gang.

"Ah, Gomen! For some reason that old fool Uchiyamada wants me at class early tomorrow… I'll see you guys later!" With a bubbly smile and a twirl of her long, black hair, she quickly bid a hasty farewell. Mai lived quite a distance away, and she hurried through the late-night crowd to catch the last bus service.

Since Shinjuku was a popular tourist destination, it wasn't uncommon to see foreigners strolling around, doing what tourists would do. But for the two Caucasian men keeping a distance behind Mai, they were about as conspicuous as they could get as one of them communicated via microphone clipped on his shirt.

 **"Ziel in Sicht,"** One of the men spoke on the microphone with some hint of a North Upper Saxon accent.

 **"Verstanden,"** The reply came from the other line, obviously to whoever was leading this mission.

Blonde, blue-eyed, barrel-chested, and tall, they could be mistaken for male models if not for their determined looks and gaudy Hawaiian shirts; an attempt to blend in with the tourist population. Meanwhile, Mai grumbled at the prospect of her morning class as she fiddled with her black Apple IPhone 3GS in order to listen to music.

She vowed she'd get back at the lecturer for proposing something as preposterous as this and depriving her of her lovely sleep, but all thoughts of vengeance vanished as her favorite J-pop tune trickled from her smartphone and into her ear.

With one of her senses blind from the outside world, the two men advanced nearer… But first they had to pass by a dark alley. As the man in the trailing position passed the dark abyss, a pair of arms lashed out in a chokehold around his neck and chest, pulling him into the darkness where a muffled beating followed…

It was some time before the lead stalker discovered that his partner was missing. He nearly panicked, but he knew that the mission had to be completed. Following Mai to a road crossing, he waited, and kept a discreet distance. They were alone at the crossing, but there was no use capturing her now; that would come later when she was alone and vulnerable, such as her home, which was currently his objective to discover wherever in hell in Tokyo it was.

He looked at his watch in an attempt to disguise his movements, which proved to be his undoing. As he looked down, he heard a whistling sound, like an object cutting through the wind…

But before he could look back up, a metallic ball hit him on the head with such force that he fell to the pavement unconscious. From another dark alley beside them, a mysterious individual appeared and dragged the body to dispose of it. Mai however, still remained unaware, even with the action behind her…

It wasn't long before the people responsible for sending the tail realized their agents weren't responding. Another group went after her, intercepting Mai as she walked along the large and busy road crossing at Nishi-Shinjuku. Despite the crowds, the seasoned agents picked up her trail easily, following her closely. But in the massive miasma of people in the crossing, another important factor in the night's events lurked.

Mai's unknown savior; the person that had so casually eliminated her trained stalkers pushed through the crowd, closing in on her new trails. Dressed in an open leather jacket, jeans and white sneakers, he could have easily been mistaken for just any normal fashion-savvy youngster. But his determined eyes and arrogant, youthful looks belied his true character. Once again, the agent trailing the girl became his first target. He went up to him and prodded his back.

"Don't move."

Shocked, the agent didn't wait to see if it was a real gun muzzle or a bluff. He had no choice but to follow his orders…

"Don't say a word. Keep on walking wherever I point you to."

Wordlessly, he let the individual lead him off the street and into an alley, where the individual silenced him with a sharp chop to the neck. With one done, he headed off to another direction in the alley. He had a hunch where Mai would be heading.

The bus stop where Mai was heading for was filled with mostly workers, both drunken and sober. Mai groaned heavily at the idea of being pushed into a can of alcohol-smelling black-suited sardines, but at least she knew to her relief that bus wasn't here yet. Or else it would be a long and annoying walk back home…

The lead stalker noticed his friend was gone, but kept on pushing. If he could only get onto the bus with her and found out where she lived, his mission would be complete. Quietly, he spoke into the microphone clipped on his collar, showing off a trace of a Northern Bavarian accent.

 **"Ziel Punkt erreicht. In Betrieb nehmen."**

Before he could finish, a punch rang out from beside him, knocking him unconscious while in the distance, Mai boarded her long awaited bus home. As soon as it left, the mysterious individual stepped out from behind a vending machine where he had watched her leave.

At least with the stalkers gone, she was safe for the time being… but the real threat still remained. It was time to stir up the hornet's nest… Turning, he gave a swift kick to the fallen agent as he searched for his next target.

* * *

Inside Nissan Civilian TX Bus, somewhere in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Hans Müller was furious. The two teams he had sent out to tail a harmless little girl had failed and weren't responding. How could that be? They were some of the most skilled men he had met and more importantly; of pure Aryan stock when they were chosen for the job. What could have eliminated them?

The former Oberst and head of the Militärischer Abschirmdienst's 2nd Department cursed loudly as the other agents manning the surveillance equipment in the cramped bus, converted secretly to serve as a mobile electronics surveillance vehicle, looked on.

The Moroha family had assured him that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, particularly the Public Security Bureau, and the Public Security Intelligence Agency would not interfere.

 _Haben sie zurück auf ihr wort?_

But Hans thought against it. They were needed now as their sponsors needed them. The ex-MAD officer drew out and pulled the slide of his Walther P99QA pistol after he motioned to the two agents nearest to the door to follow him. If his agents couldn't get the job done, he was going to do it himself. Before he could touch the doors of the bus, it inexplicably opened…

"So this is where you bastards are at…"

Standing in the doorway, was the individual that tormented them for so long. Hans reached for his gun, and panicked as he noticed his unmistakable gear and realized who it was…

"Y-You're a Spriggan!" The Oberst was surprised to see the intruder enter their mobile surveillance bus.

The individual smiled. He liked it when they realized they were in trouble.

"Damn right you are," He said, zipping up his jacket. "And now you're going to find out why it sucks when you pick on little girls…"

Han's scowl grew tighter. He would not be insulted. "Tötet ihn!"

Immediately, the agents in the bus whipped out their Eickhorn KM2000 combat knives and lunged at him. The individual caught one of them by the arm as he tried to stab the intruder at his chest. To counter the stab attempt, the intruder lifted up his knee to break the agent's arm while he was struck at the head with an elbow attack.

Still holding onto the agent, the individual blocked another attack with his free arm at the second agent and gave him a vicious turning back kick to the abdomen. This made him fly to the rear of the bus, which resulted in a dent.

* * *

Outside Nissan Civilian TX Bus, somewhere in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

A lone passerby on the sidewalk, carrying two shopping bags from a nearby 7-Eleven, noticed the parked Nissan Civilian rocking violently. But due to his better judgement, he decides to leave it alone…

"Must be some karaoke party or something…"

Other people who passed by the rocking bus also came to the same conclusion that there probably was some kind of party going on inside the parked Civilian TX.

If only they knew of the true story behind it.

* * *

Back inside Nissan Civilian TX Bus, somewhere in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Hans watched as his agents were ripped apart by the individual. The stories about the Spriggan were true… He moved to the radio set to warn about the danger that lurked here, when suddenly, the flying body of an agent slammed into him, knocking him out and destroying the radio as well.

The fourth agent the intruder grappled with was met with several jabs to the face, followed by an uppercut.

The last agent received a double consecutive kick, which consisted of a front kick to the chest with a downward roundhouse kick aimed at his leg before it ended with a palm thrust. The last attack made him fly towards the rear of the bus. This knocked out the second agent again after he recovered from the initial attack.

All five agents in the bus were neutralized, including the driver, who had been knocked out earlier when the intruder caught him off guard by chocking him from the back when he was smoking a Malboro cigarette.

"You know, you're lucky that Yamamoto told me not to make a mess… If it was up to me, you all would be taking eternal naps by now." With those parting words, the individual exited the trailer and onto the street.

But Hans wasn't done yet. Lifting himself up painfully, Hans aimed his sidearm at the individual as he walked away.

"You've think you've won Spriggan? There will be more of us! The Neo-Nazis will prevail!"

 _Neo-Nazis…_ The individual stopped dead in his tracks. "So that explains things… So tell me, what the hell do you outdated asshole fanatics want with a harmless girl anyway?"

"Like the hell I would!" As Hans touched the trigger, the individual heard it all; the pulling of the levers, the creak of the spring being primed…

Due to reflex, the individual reached for his side holster and spun around before he raised his sidearm, a Beretta 93R machine pistol. Blinded by the speed, Hans hesitated, then fired, as did the individual…

The sound of their shots rang in concert in the dead of the night. For the individual, it had only been a breeze past his face. But for Hans, he felt a dull impact in his sternum, throwing him back a distance.

"Y-you…"

He had barely had time to contemplate the feeling that began to spread across his chest when another impact hit him in his forehead. In a blinding flash of pain, everything turned white and he died there, in a futile display of defiance. For the individual, it had been an unremarkable takedown shot.

A head shot would be easier at that distance, and would been less painful for the victim. But then again, the individual had no love for his type or the organization he belonged to. If what he read in the file was true, there would be more serious shit happening in these few days.

The individual first holstered his sidearm before he took out his black IPhone 3GS with a protective anti-shock bumper from the right pants pocket.

 _Good thing I fired in single shot mode or else I'd have to worry about more casings to collect._

 **"Hey, it's Harker."** Jonathan made an immediate call on his smartphone. **"Listen, I got some interesting things that may complicate the situation. I'll try and gather some evidence."**

He then ended the call and used the 3GS' built-in camera to take photos of Hans and the other unconscious Neo-Nazis inside the bus.

 _Let's see how good ARCAM's intelligence network is after I showed them their faces. Ought to get some matches in._

Jonathan was able to obtain a small ziplock-type plastic bag from the floor, clear of anything inside. The ex-Marine worked with the bag by immediately reversing the interior inside out after he took the bag in his hands. He used it to grab the empty 9mm Parabellum bullet casing fired from his 93R from the floor.

 _Got it. Now to keep it so that they can't link me with this attack._ He reversed the ziplock bag again to its original position so that the empty casing was now inside it.

Taking it with him, Jonathan exited from the bus and blended in with the crowd. No one seemed to notice him leave. If there was no witness that can give a credible statement to the police, then so much the better. It would just make the American's work much easier in conducting covert work.

 _If things are gonna be more FUBAR than this, then it's a good opportunity to bring out those MCMAP memories again._

He has a lot of work to do in the Land of the Rising Sun. And it was only his first day here.

"This ought to be fun." Jonathan smirked as he went inside the nearest taxi to take him back to the Park Hyatt Hotel.

* * *

Lobby, Philippine Bank of Communications Tower, Makati, Philippines

* * *

As most employees of the Philippine Bank of Communications or PBCOM went home for the night, there shouldn't be anyone loitering around except for the hired security guards. Their job was to make sure anyone still working overtime is safe and to check on the premises to ensure no intruders were seen.

Well, except for a couple of teenagers of Chinese origin seen waiting at the main lobby of the PBCOM Tower, who appear to be identical twins based on their physical features. They wore white shirts and jeans with one of them wearing sneakers and the other wearing military-type boots. The latter also has a leather jacket tied up at his waist via sleeves.

"Let's go." The teenagers moved in towards the direction of the male restroom, walking at a normal pace with their hands at the pockets of their jeans.

One of them waited outside the male restroom, positioning himself by sitting down on the nearest guard to check in case of roaming guards would try and check inside the toilet.

"I'll head inside now," The boots-wearing teenager spoke to the sneakers-wearing teenager. "Keep an eye outside, bro."

"Right. Good luck," The sneakers-wearing teenager answered.

* * *

Male Toilet, Lobby, Philippine Bank of Communications Tower, Makati, Philippines

* * *

When the boots-wearing teen got inside the male toilet, he saw no one inside. He wore the jacket and the gloves on his hands.

"Time to get things started," He murmured after he donned his gloves. At the time, he noted a businessman in his early 40s wearing a black business suit, red necktie, white dress shirt and black Oxford-type shoes walk outside one of the toilet stalls, the door being closed behind him.

"Excuse me, are you Marco Lim, head of Takasumi Corporation Philippines' Financial Department?"

The man stared at him before he replied. "That's right. Who wants to know?"

"I heard rumors that you financially support a mercenary group called Trident."

"If you're one of those young reporters trying to get an easy scoop from me, I'll have you know that I'm denying all allegations regarding my links to that group. Not to mention that what you're doing is an invasion of my privacy."

"I think I have a right to know, especially when your photo was taken with a man known to have ties to Trident."

The teen showed off a colored photo of the Chinese-Filipino businessman shaking hands with a Caucasian man in his mid 30s with a brown business suit, blue necktie and white dress shirt in a restaurant. It appeared that the photo was taken while they were eating in a VIP-type room.

"So if you got nothing to hide, then mind explaining why you two were meeting in a VIP place?"

Marco cursed under his breath that a photo was taken despite his best to keep the meeting from being publicly known.

"If my tracks are so easily revealed, then you're probably one of those Spriggan agents I heard about."

Before the Takasumi businessman could make a call from his mobile phone, the teen snatched it from his hands.

"Too bad for you, mate." The young Filipino Spriggan smirked before he moved to the man's back to squeeze some nerves on his neck. "Your financial support for the mercenary group has been making ARCAM very jittery to the point that a contract was specially arranged just for little old you."

Marco couldn't make up a reply as the nerves of his neck was pinched heavily with his left thumb and index finger. This rendered him out cold.

"Now what to do?" The teen noted the belt worn around the waist as the door to the bathroom was opened with the door being locked afterwards.

"Come on, Mark," The sneakers-wearing teen called out after he locked the door behind him. "I don't know how much longer can we do this before the guards come checking around the corner in an hour or two."

"I know, Michael," Mark replied while he dragged the executive's unconscious body, checking to see if the pants were being dragged onto the floor. "We brothers do need to stick together with this kind of work."

"I trust that the work was done?" Michael asked his twin brother while he helped bring the body to an empty toilet stall.

"Yeah, it should be now." The body was now brought to the an empty stall. "Just be careful that his pants and shoes aren't tangled with anything there."

"Okay, okay..." With the body inside, the shoes were checked with Mark patting it down with his gloved hands that held a white cloth to make sure Michael's fingerprints aren't left behind.

"How do we do this? We need to make sure it looks like he had an unfortunate brush with death."

The twins looked up at the ceiling of the male toilet to see a water pipe that was seen on top of the stalls.

"Makes sense." Mark got the belt and removed it from the executive's pants. "This oughta be easy. Now we need to take care of the rest."

"You just make it sound that easy, bro." Michael wore the same leather gloves for good measure as he began to secure the belt around the executive's neck.

"I'll go and remove the necktie as a backup just in case." Mark untied the necktie as well before he got a call from his IPhone 3GS.

"Whoever this is, we're kind of busy..." Mark got the phone and quickly answered the call. He noted that the number shown on the phone was not registered.

 **"I trust that things were taken care of, agent Uy?"** The electronically distorted voice questioned Mark on the progress of his mission.

 **"Almost done. Just make sure you got our transport ready."**

 **"It'll be waiting outside the building when you're done."**

 **"Understood."**

"Okay, brah. Let's make this look good." Mark ended the call on his smartphone before they proceeded with their business.

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"What did you say!"

The hallways of the ARCAM Foundation's Japan office resonated with a voice of protest on that sunny morning. New employees cringed, old ones yawned in boredom… Yup, it was just the beginning of a new day… Especially when the passionate Yu Ominae, ARCAM's top Japanese Spriggan agent was in. He paced the floor of Yamamoto's office in exasperation at the recent events, and especially what had happened last night.

"I can't believe it, Yamamoto! What was New York thinking! Did they have to bring him here! He's just bad news!"

"Calm down, Ominae… Just because that he's around doesn't mean the end of the world does it?" replied Yamamoto as he lit a cigarette, his first of the day. "Besides, with Jean missing, we're understaffed as it is…"

Jean Jacquemonde, a French national and another of ARCAM's top Spriggans had been missing for weeks. A month ago, ARCAM had received news from their contacts in the underworld that a new OOPArt has been discovered in an archaeological dig by accident. ARCAM quickly sent its agents, including Jean to recover and seal the artifact, but no news had been heard from them since. Even more recently, ARCAM facilities all around the world were being targeted in random attacks that seemed to be aimed at reducing their military strength.

"Until we know who is responsible for the recent attacks, HQ have ordered all units to stand down in case of further incidents…"

"And you want me to hang around Tokyo while my friends get killed! No way, Yamamoto! I'm going to hunt those bastards down to the ends of the Earth!" Yu shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

They were indiscriminate, robbing the lives of both civilians and soldiers alike. Yu lost a lot of comrades in those attacks, and he swore there would be hell to pay.

He remembered the day when the Machiner's Platoon conducted a blitzkrieg on the ARCAM Mt. Ararat research site in Turkey. To Yu, it was just as expected. People and organizations with dark motives would certainly want to take them out in the quckest way possible.

 _That was exactly what headquarters was afraid of…_ Yamamoto sighed, rubbing his forehead. "But still, we need you to take care of Professor Mayzel's visit. He's in Tokyo for the Annual World Physics Meet and I want you in charge of his security detail." _Better keep him busy. A little more and he would be off the fringe…_

Yu groaned. "Does that old man have to come now!" Babysitting; Yu's most hated type of mission. And taking care of an eccentric old man was the worst of it.

 _Nice try, Yamamoto_ , Yu reasoned. With his hands now newly tied, revenge would have to wait.

"Fine, fine, Yamamoto. I see what you're getting at…" Yu said as he slumped down onto the guest couch. "But after this, they're mincemeat!"

Looking at Yu's devilish grin as he said those words, Director Yamamoto sighed once again. It was not like he could compete with a hot-blooded headstrong teenager anyways… And it seemed that the Spriggans was just full of them.

 _People like Yu… It was their life, their choice to take the path they had led now. Would they all die young, unloved and unacknowledged?_ Yamamoto wondered.

"Hey Yamamoto!"

Yu's voice broke his trance. "H-huh? Sorry Ominae, I got lost in my thoughts there…" Yamamoto replied with a slight reddening of his face as he was caught off guard. "What is it?" He asked, trying to regain his composure.

"So how's he doing? You know, the new guy who just came in from Alaska?"

"Oh, he's following up on another lead right now… It's bit like your current assignment, really." Yamamoto answered as he stubbed out his cigarette. "Also on orders from New York."

"Him? Doing babysitting? That would be something I wouldn't see in this lifetime." Yu snorted in contempt, folding his arms.

"Well we really can't debate his experience in urban warfare for this one…"

Yu was about to fire off another wisecrack when he happened a glance at his watch. It was 9AM. School started at 8AM. As soon as he saw it, Yu's face expression ran the gamut from downright bewilderment to pure horror.

Grabbing his bag, He sprung out from the couch and bolted from the office and down the hallway and scaring the secretaries.

"Damnit! It's the third time this week! Catch you later, Yamamoto!" Yamamoto could have sworn that the entire action couldn't have been more than 5 seconds…

With Yu gone, Chief Yamamoto reflected on his earlier thought. _Experience in urban warfare… If the rumors are true, He'll need them…_

Yukari came inside the office minutes after the delinquent left and handed to Yamamoto a copy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"This just came in from one of our employees when he arrived from Narita."

"Thank you, Yukari. I'll take this," Yamamoto thanked the secretary. "See if my coffee is around. Otherwise, I'll go down and buy one from the nearest Starbucks."

Yukari bowed and left the office.

 _Just what happened in Manila that one of our employees brought this to our attention..._

The semi-bald man took the newspaper and read the frontpage for the latest headlines in the country.

 **LOCAL TAKASUMI CORP. EXECUTIVE FOUND DEAD!**

 **SUICIDE?**

 **No comment from the Philippine National Police nor from the Takasumi Corp. Manila office.**

Yamamoto sighed when he read it. _Better make sure..._ He pressed the intercom button on his desk to call up Yukari.

" **Yes, Kaicho?"** The reply came to Yukari when she heard the intercom buzz from her desk.

" **If I get calls or visits from anyone in the afternoon, tell them I'm going to be in my office later all afternoon to make a call to the Manila office with their security head."**

" **Understood, Kaicho. What should I tell them?"**

" **Tell them it's... a very delicate meeting that I need some time alone in the office."**

" **Very well."**

* * *

Somewhere in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Somewhere in the back streets of the ward, a lone motorcycle roared down the morning streets. The rider rode helmetless, his hair and jacket billowing in the wind. The bike, a 2007 black Honda CBR1000RR with Nerima-registered license plates, produced a pleasing rattling sound as it sped around corners, its inline four-cylinder engine hammering away mightily, its pistons enduring the controlled explosions that worked in concert with the rest of the other engine mechanisms to produce a harmony of horsepower that formed the lifeblood of the bike itself.

But in the covered pedestrian lanes nearby, a pair of panicked legs ran, as the bushes behind them rustled violently. At a traffic light, the motorcycle and its rider stopped as it turned red. Noticing that an identification tag he was wearing was sticking out; he quickly put it back within the folds of his jacket. However, one could clearly make out the words 'ARCAM' as he stuffed in his left pocket…

 _Better hide this. Don't want to paint a target on my back._

He glanced at his watch as he waited there. The green light should be turning soon. He got his foot oh the throttle, ready to accelerate when the unexpected happened…

Suddenly, a massive weight impacted at the back of his bike, throwing it up a bit. Instinctively, he reached for his side holster and turned around-only to come face to face with an anguished-looking girl…

"Hey! What-"

"JUST GO!"

The ear-shattering shriek from the girl propelled the rider to kick into gear and speed off. At the place where the girl got on, the bushes rustled and parted, to reveal a… cat.

"Uh… What do you think you're doing…?"

"What does it look like I'm doing! I'm taking a ride on your bike, that's what!"

Her ear-splitting reply threatened to send the bike spinning. However, the rider was annoyed, yet amused. He'd been expecting to look for her, not having her suddenly popping in front or rather, behind him. At least it made my job easier…

"You don't have to shout you know… Besides, who were you running away from?"

The girl hesitated for a while. "Well, it was a… a… cat."

The rider nearly face-faulted. "A-a cat? You were running away from a cat! You're not for real, aren't you?"

"How dare you say that!" The girl shouted back, obviously offended. "I don't even know who you are yet!"

I should be asking you that… "You can call me Ta- I mean, Jonathan if you want. And no, I don't have a last name." _Damnit, that sounds so cliché. But then again…_

"Jonathan? That has got to be one of the strangest names I've ever heard…"

I knew it.

"Whatever…"

"Anyway, I'm Mai…"

"Mai? That's even stranger."

"Yeah? But not at strange as yours…" Mai ended with a mischievous tone in her voice.

Jonathan smiled at that as he did a sharp turn. So far the information had been spot-on; fear of cats, attitude, name, her flaring pink hairstyle… The job now was to keep her in one piece, something he knew that as mundane as it sounded, was going to be very interesting indeed…

For Mai, she lost count of the number of times she was nearly thrown off the bike as he sped through the streets. She agreed that suddenly jumping onto an unknown person's bike was a bad call, but what could she do? She extremely hated cats… She had been expecting him to be a good samaritan, but now, she wasn't so sure…

"Don't you wear a helmet…? The police are going to go after you, you know…"

"A helmet?" Jonathan scoffed. "Helmets are for pussies and the police can go to hell for all I care."

At Jonathan's reply, Mai's eyes opened wide with fear. "Don't tell me you're a… Bosozoku! Though you look more handsome than one…" said Mai, drifting off.

"Boso-wha? What the hell is that?" Jonathan deadpanned in reply. _I really need to get a dictionary on Japanese terms that I haven't heard of yet._

This time, it was Mai's turn to almost face-fault. "What do you mean by that! Don't tell me you've been living under a rock for all these years!"

"For your information, I'm not-"

Mai was about to give him a sharp one in the ribs for being so simplistic when the bike came to an abrupt halt. Looking up, she found that they were at the entrance of Tokai University.

"Hey, how did you know where I was going?"

"I didn't." Jonathan replied as he parked his bike in the designated lot for motorcycles. "This is my stop."

 _Wait, that means…_ Her thought trailed off as a sinking feeling set in. Gingerly, she felt she could do nothing but to just walk to class… which somehow happened to be the same direction that Jonathan was now walking along. By the time they had reached the lecture hall her class was in, her head was already swimming in denial. Having him as a classmate was the last thing she wanted.

* * *

Chapter 1 END

PS - Like I said, this is a rewrite of the original _Solitary Trooper_ story written years ago by rx79guntank. I approached him online years ago and asked if I continue this in some way and he told me that it's okay for me to do so. Although he granted me permission to do so, I chose to start this all over from the start to give more background to Jonathan and his time with the USMC, as well as to make it more aligned to manga canon.

The story takes place after the raid on the ARCAM Japan building by COSMOS (Which by this point has been acquired by Trident Corporation from the US Army) and the mystery of the forgotten Island (An island which teleports between dimensions once a few years... thanks to the pyramids). Other than that, which I won't spoil for those who didn't read their translated versions of the manga outside of the Japanese version.

It's an AU in the sense that it takes place in 2012, taking into account the _War on Terror_ launched prior to the Afghan war/occupation by the Coalition.


	2. Action

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 2: Action

* * *

Somewhere inside Tokai University Yoyogi Campus, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"S-say, you're not going in there are you?" Mai nervously asked as Jonathan approached the door.

"Why? Is there a problem?"

"Well, uh… Nothing! Nothing at all!" Mai hesitated, before letting him through. With nothing left to do, Mai follows him into the lecture hall, flushed and trying to keep her face hidden from the rest of the lecture hall students. While Jonathan took a seat in the isolated back row, Mai joined her friends.

The resident group of the most popular girls on campus was huddled around the central part of the lecture hall, eagerly and excitingly chattering on all things that young girls would usually talk about, when Mai abruptly dropped in with a loud sigh. Seeing their leader arrive, the group cheerfully greeted and offered her, the customary morning can of oolong tea. As Mai drank it, anyone could see that she was visibly weary.

"What's wrong, Mai? Did one of those Ganguro bitches do a jump on you?" asked a concerned member of the group who was rather predisposed to violence. The rest of them motioned in agreement but Mai shook her head. As much as she would have wanted to teach them another lesson, her fear of felines was another matter. She kept that secret from her group and enemies, lest it showed her weakness and usually attributed her morning encounters with cats to the weather or some other nonsensical excuse. She was going to concoct another stupid excuse to satisfy her friend's insatiable pestering when the bell for class abruptly rang, saving her and releasing another large sigh of relief from Mai.

Professor Uchiyamada was known to be one of the strictest lecturers in the university. The very mention of this scholar of scholars would send even the most delinquent shivering in their shoes. As he approached his class, the students in the lecture hall felt a dark storm coming which proved true when he burst into the hall loudly. The students sat in silence, afraid at what would happen next. Despite being enrolled in the university's fine arts course under the Department of Arts, physics was mysteriously an important part of her class' syllabus, earning the eternal loathing of the students.

For the next one hour the students endured a one of the most mind-numbing subjects ever known to man. Uchiyamada however, kept on going, each time addressing the students with a hiss of contempt. From time to time Mai looked behind, afraid that Jonathan might do something stupid and nearly face-faulted when she found that he was sleeping despite the lesson. Shaking her head, she didn't really know what to make of Jonathan and his apparent lack of enthusiasm.

Soon after the class was lunch. While most students met up with their friends and went out to eat, Jonathan sat by his bike, fiddling with a takeaway bento he bought. Despite being Japanese, Jonathan had never eaten or seen a bento before. He looked strangely at the piece of wood that he was supposed to break into chopsticks, not knowing what to make of it.

Taking a deep breath, he plunged it into the rice and tried to balance a piece of chicken into his mouth only to fail miserably and have it end up on the floor. Pissed, Jonathan began eating the only other way he knew how: with his hands.

"My, you're hopeless aren't you…?"

Jonathan looked up as a long shadow fell on him. Mai stood there, hands on hips, looking at him disdainfully with her own bento in her arms.

"Let me guess… You've never eaten a bento before?"

"Well-ah-I did… Maybe it was a memory lapse…" Jonathan replied as he laughed, starching his head in the classic clueless pose. Mai gave a sigh and sat down on the curb with him. _'Forgot' how to use chopsticks? What an idiot…_

"Here."

"What's this?" Jonathan asked as Mai handed him a plastic fork.

"I-it came with mine… you can have it if you want." Mai couldn't help but blush slightly at this moment. It had been a long time since she had offered something to a member of the opposite sex.

"Thanks," Jonathan looked away, surprised at the awkwardness of the situation, before he gave in to his hunger and wolfed down the bento.

As he ate, Jonathan felt that she was watching him, her own bento unattended. Although he rarely cared what others did, he'd preferred them to do something else than to look at him like he was some sort of curiosity.

"Aren't you going to eat? It's going to get cold."

"Where are you from actually?" Mai countered.

 _Oookaay…_ Jonathan thought He'd like to tell her off, but then he couldn't let her get out of his sight...

"If you really want to know, I'm from the US. I was born here, but I don't know where…" He said, trailing off. There was too much things he in the past that he'd rather keep secret and he wasn't going to start now.

["OH MY GOD! YOU'RE FROM AMERICA! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THAT'S SO COOL-"] Mai yelled in semi-accented English. Maybe he isn't such an idiot after all.

 _Great._ Jonathan thought as he closed off his hearing to the high-pitched wails. Of all the things she had to turn into some rabid fangirl… _Perhaps it would be better if I had kept my mouth shut._ Cursing his luck, Jonathan started towards his bike to leave before he went insane. Unfortunately, Mai kept on following him.

"Look, don't you have any friends to hang out with rather than bugging me!"

Mai hesitated for a second.

"Uh… no…?"

* * *

Still in Shibuya, unfortunately for Jonathan

* * *

Meanwhile at a trendy Starbucks in Shibuya, Mai's group waits impatiently for their leader…

"I give up… Say whatever you want. I leaving," Said Jonathan as he got on his bike. He began starting it up when he felt a massive weight on the back, something he felt before. Grumbling, he turns to the back.

"And what are you doing now!" He asked angrily at Mai who suddenly was now on his bike's back seat.

"Since you made me miss lunch with my friends, _you_ are now going to accompany me.

"You, are insane."

"And you, are going to do it. Besides, I'm your only friend here…"

She was right. Jonathan was helpless and at her mercy. Grumbling once again, he set his bike into gear and headed of to wherever Mai wanted him to, which was kind of beneficial since he couldn't let her out of his sight. He really hated these bodyguard missions…

And so they finally found themselves in Mai's favorite arcade. While Mai and her friends hung around the machines, Jonathan distanced himself like a socially awkward teenager. He watched as the teenagers around him immersed themselves in their respective games, partially wincing from the noise and the flashing lights in the dim environment. He hadn't been to many arcades and now he remembered why. A sudden tap on the shoulder breaks his thoughts and Jonathan turns towards the source, ready to kill if needs be.

["Hey! Is that how you treat old friends?"]

Yu came out of the shadows of the darkened arcade, this time wearing a commercial-made tac vest over his armored muscle suit. In its current inactivated mode, it could easily pass off as any normal leather jacket. He spoke English with a very clear Californian accent.

["You're supposed to be taking care of Mayzel, Yu. What are you doing here?"] Jonathan glared at him while speaking in English. Unlike Yu... well... It was hard to asertain his English accent, but it has a slight hint of Western American English, though he also has spent time in western Canada as well.

["Relax. Besides he's holed up in HQ right now, working on god knows what for his talk."] Yu replied as he headed towards an arcade machine.

["You do remember what happened the last time the last time you kept someone at HQ…"]

["Yeah…"]Memories of Rie Yamabishi's visit and his battle with the US Armored Infantry Corp and COSMOS child soldiers in ARCAM's old Yoyogi office came to Yu's mind. If he'd have been fast enough god knows what would have happened to her… ["But even the CIA would be insane to attack a target so near the head of government."]

Indeed, the main ARCAM office was now located just directly adjacent the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building as an interim precaution.

["So, how's yours going?"]

Jonathan's face contorted in a rather comical display of exasperation as the experiences of the past few hours came to him.

["Don't… ask."]

["That bad huh?"] Yu replied with a grin.

As Yu filled him up on the latest news, they started up a Time Crisis 4 arcade machine and started playing, walking through the popular shooting game with the concentration and experience gained only through years in the battlefield.

By the time they had finished and reached the highest score in the game, the spectators gathered around were left dumbfounded and wordless at the speed and ferocity which they finished the game at.

["They make games too easy nowadays."]

Suddenly, a female pair of arms came seemingly out of nowhere and glomped on to Jonathan, nearly frightening the life out of him. Yu on the other hand knew the trouble that was coming next and immediately made himself scarce.

"Hey, Jonathan!"

 _Stay calm, stay calm…_

"Can't you ever say said hello properly! I nearly died there!" Jonathan shouted, despite his previous vow.

"Say, who was that guy you were talking to just now? He looked kind of cute!"

"That's information on a need to know basis."

Jonathan groaned as he felt Mai's protective hold grow tighter. It had been a few hours, but Jonathan knew he had to endure for as long as the mission dictated. Looking around, he got another fright when he saw Mai's group. He didn't really catch onto the Gothic Lolita fashion sense but seeing an entire group of girls in dark makeup and frilled dresses was rather unnerving. Japan was indeed crazy.

"Hey Jonathan! We're going to club next! Wanna come?"

Clubs. Dark, smoky, and noisy. He hated them.

"Uh, maybe we should try something else-"

Before he could even finish, Jonathan was yanked away by his bubbly captor, who had not even heard a word he said…

But while resisting Mai's efforts to bring him to her favorite nightclub outside the arcade, Jonathan noticed something strange. On the opposite street was a black Mercedes E-class tinted. From his perspective, it looked menacing.

 _It seems that car's been there for a while. Better inform the office's security department._

It was one of the newest models, something you didn't see in Tokyo often. Luxury cars weren't uncommon in this part of Tokyo, but he had a bad feeling about this one. As he watched it while he was manhandled by a hyperactive girl, the car slowly departed as if it knew it had been discovered. Jonathan knew that it was sent by those responsible… but who?

The ex-Marine departed once Mai went home via bus. He took note of the license plate and placed a note on his mobile phone to talk to ARCAM the next day.

For now, it was time to go back and get some shut eye.

* * *

Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku 3913, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

It was almost 2 in the morning when Jonathan finally returned to his room, and collapsed on his bed.

 _Damn._ He thought, this was almost as strenuous as a combat mission. In over a few hours he had visited 3 arcades, 2 clubs and had spent the better portion of an hour napping at the local Starbucks' while Mai and her friends chatted on… whatever they talked about.

Jonathan let another groan when he realized that he had to do it all again tomorrow. Despite being her supposed bodyguard, he doubted he had enough energy to keep up with Mai. Now he knew why those guys from Okinawa talked about those girls so much…

With Mai now safely back at home, he felt he could relax. He started to take off his equipment and AM suit to go to bed, but he decided to get a shower and brush his teeth before he decided to hit the sack.

* * *

Lobby, The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America

* * *

A Caucasian man with black hair and a mustache in his late 30s had finished talking to American military officers, dressed in a brown suit, red necktie, white dress shirt and brown Oxford-type shoes, when he got an incoming phone call going through his HTC Nexus One smartphone.

 **[** " **Hello?"]** The call was being answered.

 **[** " **Mr. Larry Markson, I presume?"]**

This startled the businessman when he heard the voice was digitally altered to give the caller a low, male baritone-type voice. **["Who are you?!"]**

 **[** " **In paper, you're one of the executives appointed to oversee the American branch of the Campbell Company in the state of New Jersey. But in reality, you're a major leader in the mercenary unit known as the Trident Corporation."]**

Larry quickly stepped out of the Pentagon so that he could take his business outside. **["I don't know who you are and how you got my number, but I'm warning you that you'll be in big trouble..."]**

 **[** " **Relax, Mr. Markson. I'm hear on a friendly proposal. I understand that you have some trouble in Southeast Asia and I wish to give you a hand."]**

 _This is most likely to the executive who was found dead in the Philippines._ **[** **"I'm listening."]**

 **[** " **I believe we have some mutual interests against the ARCAM Corporation. Allow me to illustrate to you how we're birds of a feather..."]**

* * *

February 2008

Iraq

* * *

Three United States Marine Corp Force Reconnaissance platoons were deployed at the dead of night via Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey V/STOL aircraft at the outskirts of the former Iraqi Air Force facility, Al Fathah Air Base, in Kirkuk from the east towards the Khasa River. They landed a few kilometers away from the outskirts, opting to land to deposit the platoons down. The ramp opened up and they poured out out of the aircraft as soon as the ramp was fully retracted.

An anti-terrorist operation was currently going in the district, which consisted of units from Delta Force, Force Recon and the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, specifically its Special Operations Group. It was suppose to start once the groups converged onto their respective destinations to kick off the operation.

They were seen clad in MARPAT desert BDUs and black Nomex balaclavas, gloves and desert tan combat boots and Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System vests. Most of the Force Recon Marines were seen armed with Colt M4A1 carbines outfitted with SOPMOD kits, most of them with Knight's Armament Company vertical foregrips, backup iron sights and suppressors, Aimpoint ECOS-N red dot scopes alongside Insight AN/PEQ-2 laser sights and Visible Bright Light flashlights. Some are decided to forego the foregrips and the flashlights and instead, had M203A1 grenade launchers installed underneath the barrel.

A few were armed with either KAC SR-25 Mk 11 Mod 1 sniper rifles, outfitted with KAC suppressors, bipods and Leupold Mark-4 riflescopes or with Benelli M1014 assault shotguns. Their M45 MEUSOC pistols were secured and holstered on their black Safariland 6004 leg holsters, strapped on their right legs.

For protection, they were clad in Lightweight helmets outfitted with MARPAT desert helmet covers, helmet modules to provide a harness for AN/PVS-14 monoculars, raised up since the former super-base strangely had some lights on, with ballistic goggles worn over their eyes for protection from shrapnel and bullets alike.

After the platoons disembarked from the V/STOL, Jonathan was approached by Sergeant Hayes, the platoon field radio operator, that he received word from headquarters that the lights were already taken out by the Delta Force teams after they were inserted nearby in advance to recon the place. The SOG, well, it was for them to not know and for the CIA to know on a need to basis. But from what he was told, they'll take care of the Hardened Aircraft Shelters that weren't heavily bombed during the invasion.

 _Looks like Delta's stepping up in advance, just as planned. We'll worry later about how the lights came back on after the base was deemed closed, just what was mentioned in the briefing._

"Everyone! Move out as planned!" Jonathan gave the order for the platoons to spread out and move after getting the news. The radio operator radioed in to HQ that they're moving towards the destination.

 _Looks like they're using shipping containers as makeshift buildings. And there's a lot of them around._

As the MV-22 proceeded to lift off, Jonathan shouldered his M4A1 when he made his advance towards the runway. The other Force Recon marines did so likewise. Their landing spot was approximately five to six minutes worth of walking distance.

The scout sniper platoon was ordered to keep an eye on the shipping containers, arranged in horizontal rows with two containers in each one, all of them placed in the middle of the main runway. A few Toyota Hilux pickup trucks were parked nearby from the front and back, all of them mounted with DShK heavy machine guns at the truck bed as improvised technicals.

When the Force Recon platoons passed by the craters, a remnant of demolitions work done by American military EOD units to take out Iraqi-controlled munitions at the end of the 2003 Iraqi invasion, the snipers separated from them as ordered. They would use those locations as sniping positions to support the main force.

 _Dammit._ Jonathan was now trying to assess the situation. _We don't have much cover if a firefight starts since most of the buildings were demolished, especially for our snipers. This means the same for the others._

"Incoming, Lieutenant." The radio operator crouched next to Jonathan as he signalled everyone to lower the night vision monoculars down to their eye and to crouch and wait.

" **This is Jackal. Currently in position and waiting."** Jonathan used the AN/PRC-138's handset to speak to his colleagues on the frequency.

" **This is Gray Wolf. Now in position and waiting."** Jonathan observed the runway when he heard the call sign for the CIA's SOG, which meant that they were also in position and waiting.

" **This is Dingo. Have confirmed dead lights. I say again, have confirmed dead lights."** Jonathan signaled the platoon to get ready after he heard the second call sign, which is for Delta Force. It meant that they're also ready and waiting for the go signal to begin.

" **Canis to all units."** The Marine now heard the call sign of the United States Special Operations Command, overseeing the operation from MacDill Air Force Base. **"Shahaf has left the house. I repeat, Shahaf has left the house."**

Shahaf... That was the code name used to indicate the start of Operation Desert Hunt.

He began to observe the airstrip and the arranged shipping containers as the marines ran towards them. Nearby were deactivated halogen work light stands mounted on tripods. It was possible that the area was the main camp, but it still didn't explain why the HASes are on the SOG's top priority.

The first Force Recon platoon took cover behind a couple of technicals while the second platoon waited behind them by using a crater for cover. The radioman stayed in the crater as well due to the risk of being killed in a firefight.

A few AK-armed men came out of the shipping containers, moving towards the work lights to check if they can get them working again. Around six of them emerged, armed with IZHMASH AKMs and dressed in civilian clothes with shemaghs covering their faces. Two of them began to check on the tripods with the other four on guard duty.

"Knives only." Jonathan whispered the order for the whole platoon to draw them out. For this case, he drew out a USMC Ka-Bar combat knife from the desert tan synthetic sheath strapped on the rear of the vest's belt.

Drawing the knife with his right hand, Jonathan crept up to one of the armed men standing guard with his back behind him. He grabbed him and slashed his throat before the marine dragged his corpse behind the parked technical. The other four armed men were taken out in the same way.

"What the?!"

That was... until one of the armed men checking the lights turned his head around and saw the marine drag out one of his comrades out after being ambushed from the back.

"We got trouble!" The two men turned around to shoulder and aim their assault rifles when they were instantly gunned down by Force Recon marines from the second platoon, using their suppressed carbines to prevent anyone from hearing the gunshots.

However... one of the gunmen shot by the marines was able to hold onto the trigger of his AKM to let loose a burst of gunfire.

This alerted the other armed men in the area as four more Toyota Hilux technicals emerged out of the two HASes. The first group were engaged by Delta Force and the SOG by their own snipers and assault teams. They were also accompanied by their own technical teams, the latter armed and equipped with Chevrolet Silverado and Mitsubishi Raiders while the former were armed and equipped with Toyota Tacomas.

"Shit!" That curse came from Gunnery Sergeant Torres, the platoon sergeant, as he noted the incoming Toyota Hiluxes gunning for them at full speed while firing the DShks to keep the marines pinned down.

After the gunfight started, Force Recon snipers opened fire on the hostile vehicles, shooting the two passengers of the first two technicals. While the two technicals were disabled with the driver and front passengers dead, the other two were still driving towards the marines, despite the pickups having bullet holes on the truck's body and glass windows.

"I need volunteers!" Jonathan shouted as he got into the nearest Toyota Hilux, getting inside the front passenger seat. A few Force Recon Marines came on board as well with one of them hopping on the bed to man the DShK.

"I got this, Lieutenant!" Sergeant Hayter, the platoon's special equipment NCO, got inside the Hilux and started the engine after he found the key was left in the ignition. "Just keep them off me!"

The commandeered Hilux drove off as the snipers provided cover for it. The marine manning the DShK was able to shoot the DShk gunner off the third technicals, falling over after being shot several times.

The two technicals drove in head to head as they were about to pass each other. Jonathan immediately drew out his M45 with his right hand and aimed at the incoming hostile technical after he quickly rolled the window down by using the window crank.

As the vehicles drew closer and closer, Jonathan opened fire on the armed man in the front passenger seat, who was aiming with a Russian-made Makarov PM, multiple times. The armed man did so likewise, but he was able to get a couple of shots off before he was riddled to death with several .45 ACP bullets. One of the 9mm Makarov bullets pierced the truck's body, missing the marines on board. The second one made impact on his CIRAS vest on the right side of his chest.

"Gahh..." Jonathan grunted in pain after he felt the bullet hit his chest. He was lucky that a SAPI plate was able to stop it from penetrating the vest. But even at that, the marine officer felt the bullet's impact.

"Lieutenant... Lieutenant!"

"Shit! Is he alright...!"

"I'm not sure!"

"Dammit...!"

* * *

Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku 3913, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

The arid hell of the desert had turned into the warmth of the bed. And the sound of war was now replaced with a peaceful silence. It had been all a dream, a dream of a life that Jonathan wanted to forget ever since he left the Marines.

When Jonathan bolted up from the bed, he instinctively placed his right hand on his chest. Right at the spot where the bullet struck during his time in Iraq.

 _Not again…_

Grumbling on a morning spoiled, he did his business and prepared for the new day, changing his clothes and putting on his all-important armored muscle suit. He carefully checked his gun... one could not be too careful, and in this line of work, 'careful' wasn't a word that you would take lightly.

* * *

Lobby, Shiodome Furukawa Tower, Shiodome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

A middle-aged gray-suited owner of a trading company nervously paces the floor, shifting his view from the doors of the conference room and his watch. It had been almost 30 minutes since the meeting started but he already was sweating buckets. He couldn't help it; this meeting decided the future of his company. The elevators doors opened abruptly and his associate stepped out…

"So did we do it?" The owner was hopeful, although the disposition on his associate's face suggested otherwise.

"It's over… We lost."

The owner froze. 20 years of tradition were gone in just 30 minutes. Just like that. Once again, another company fell to the ruthless undertakings of the corporate world.

Disheartened, the both of them slowly left the cold glass halls of the office that echoed their fate, their livelihood and dreams destroyed.

"Heh, they were true. You can't win against a Moroha…" The owner recollected bitterly…

"But sir... what do we do now?" The assistant asked his superior.

"I don't know, Kyoji." The owner sighed. "I really don't know."

* * *

Conference Room, Moroha Shipping Co. Japan, 58th Floor, Shiodome Furukawa Tower, Shiodome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

["And so gentlemen, may we return to business?"] the cool, elegant voice of the victor echoed from the meeting room, speaking in fluent English. It belonged to none other than Saruta Moroha, the head of the massive Moroha Group, owning various businesses and vast tracts of property in Tokyo, including Shiodome Furukawa Tower in the neighborhood, which served as their global headquarters.

To the public, he was the young and debonair playboy, with the entire world at his beck and call.

He was also the sympathetic victim, having being thrust into the corporate world after the death of his parents and the disappearance of his brother, Koichi Moroha.

He was immensely popular with females as well, blessed with handsome, almost feminine looks, a soft spoken and gentle voice and was noted for his ability of always appearing in sharp, dapper suits, complete with white velvet gloves.

In private however, he was known to be a shrewd businessman and a cold and calculating individual, always able to get what he wanted out of a negotiation. The hostile takeover just moments ago had been just child's play to him.

Charismatic, and possessing a magnetic aura, he was the poster child of Japan's recovering economic power…

From out of the shadows, two blonde Caucasian men appeared. It was apparent they had been watching at the proceedings and they were duly impressed at the impressive display of Machiavellian maneuvering. Behind them, armed guards closed the conference room doors, effectively soundproofing the room. It was clear that whatever was to be discussed would not leave.

("Herr Klaus, Herr Otto.") The two men nodded in acknowledgment when they greeted each other in German, yet shivered slightly. In the domain of the ruthless, being cold was a prerequisite. Indeed, the air conditioning was set at almost 8 degrees Celsius.

["I believe you have already made yourselves at home, gentlemen?"]

["Indeed, Mr. Moroha…"] The one known as Otto replied in English. ["We unloaded our men and equipment yesterday. Your shipping services are indeed effective…"]

["Of course,"] Saruta laughed. Moroha Shipping Co. Japan, part of the Moroha Group, was known to be a reputable company in the logistics industry for years. ["But enough of this dallying, gentlemen."] He continued.

At the snap of his fingers, a young female assistant dimmed the light and started a projection screen. An image of a young, determined looking individual with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in USMC Service A green uniform without any headwear on. The date stamp indicated that the photo was taken in 2010.

Saruta and the two men took to their seats in the long rectangular conference table.

["Subject name is Jonathan T. Harker,"] The assistant began. ["At 25 years old, he's currently ARCAM's newest Spriggan operative recruited from the United States."]

The man known as Klaus whispered to Otto. "Ich dachte, dass sie als Strikers bekannt sind"

"Ich glaube, das ist das Gleiche." Otto whispered back.

At that point, the image shifts to reveal several pictures of Jonathan grabbing a beret-clad commando of unknown origin from the back and used him as a human shield while engaging heavily armed commandos with a pistol. Two men from the rear, wearing ASPA headgear and olive green BDUs and webgear and armed with Heckler & Koch MP5A3 submachine guns, were providing cover fire alongside him to help civilians escape from a research site being overwhelmed by hostiles. Another one showed him using a combat knife to slash another enemy commando in the chest.

["Subject's physical fighting prowess is somewhat lower than the Spriggan agent Yu Ominae, but is extremely skilled in use of firearms and in unarmed combat."]

["Are there any weaknesses we can exploit?"] Klaus asked when he heard about Jonathan's fighting skills.

["None that we're aware of, I'm afraid. Early history is unknown, but reports indicate that the subject was first seen operating alongside David Marcel, a former United State Marine and mercenary, in his adolescent years in various parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. He eventually moved to Japan with Marcel, who took up employment in Camp Zama, while the subject studied at the base for his elementary and secondary education."]

Otto coughed. "Verdammte Kindersoldaten."

By now, it was clear that there were others watching this presentation as well. At the back of the room, various silhouettes could be seen in the darkness, watching, and observing every facet intently. However, the strange thing was their sizes; from a 7-foot giant to a Gollum-like dwarf…

As the briefing continued, more details on Jonathan's history was explained, followed by various images switched to show him in the Marines' blue dress uniform, followed by one showing him in MARPAT desert BDU while listening to a lecture given by a Marine officer in a university classroom-like room.

["After completing his education in Japan, the subject moved back to the United States and settled in California. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley with a BA degree in Political Science before he volunteered to serve in the Marine Corp at the age of 19 in 2005 as an officer through the Officer Candidate Course and Officer Candidate School. He was eventually commissioned in the corp with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant."]

An image was shown on the projector with Jonathan in MARPAT woodland BDU, this time with the Lightweight Helmet with woodland helmet cover and the Modular Tactical Vest with gloves worn on his hands. He was seen talking to armed Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces soldiers in California. Another was shown with him conducting small arms training with the M4A1 with his helmet and vest at the grounds of Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji.

["Subject was initially assigned to One Marine Expeditionary Force in the same year, based in Camp Pendleton in the US for a year with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit before he was transferred to Three Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Courtney in Japan with the 4th Marine Regiment. After two years of service with the rank of 1st Lieutenant, he volunteered to join Force Recon in 2007. He was assigned under the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion and served in Iraq and Afghanistan in various anti-terrorist operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom from 2007 to 2008. During his time with the unit, he was promoted to Captain based on a recommendation from the unit's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel David Thompson."]

The projector showed an image of Jonathan, decked out in MARPAT desert BDU once more with his desert tan CIRAS vest and helmet with a desert helmet cover, firing a SOPMOD-equipped M4A1 via attached Trijicon ACOG sight when he led Force Recon Marines to open fire from the balcony of an abandoned building in Iraq. Later on, the other image showed him with the same gear except for a Scalable Plate Carrier vest. He was shown working with two fellow armed MSOR Marines and Afghan Commandos in examining an arms cache that consisted of several IZHMASH AK-74 assault rifles and a IZHMASH RPK-74 light machine gun with a detained insurgent nearby, who was blindfolded and cuffed with his arms behind his back.

An image showed Jonathan training with other Marines in a Marine-led Visit, Board, Search and Seizure or VBSS exercise by securing a cargo ship after his team rappeled down from a chopper during the morning. A few images showed him restraining a crewman in the bridge after the latter was ordered to get his hands up and down on his knees.

["He is believed to have joined ARCAM a few months after his honorable discharge from the Marine Corp in the same year. Psychological evaluations of the subject indicate that he is resourceful, determined individual, with a predilection his opponents. He is also-"]

She stopped. You could almost see the disbelief on her face as she read the next line… ["A feminist."]

The room fell into an awkward silence.

["In any case gentlemen,"] Saruta cleared his throat; ["Our friend here is currently the most plausible threat to the operation. His elimination is of the paramount importance…"]

Klaus snorted arrogantly. ["Bah! He is of no concern! With our reinforcements, we are more than adequately equipped to deal with that young fool!"]

Saruta on the other hand, found the boastful general amusing, espousing his hollow threats and hot air. It was clear to see why they lost the Second World War.

["Why, I can even bring his head for you today!] Klaus turned around from his seat. (Bo!")

At once, Bo Brantz, the blonde-haired, scatter-brained, muscular retainer of the Cairo-based Neo-Nazi faction, stepped forward and gave the infamous salute. Saruta just waved him away disdainfully with a gloved hand.

("Herr Otto! Herr Klaus!") Bo greeted the two officers afterwards. "Ich grüße und grüße von Oberst Kutheimer!"

"Wir wünschen dem Oberst eine Geschwindigkeitsregeneration von den Verletzungen, die er in Kairo erlitten hat." Klaus replied to Bo's greeting.

"Sir." The assistant whispered to Saruta's left ear, who nodded. "We need to finish up the rest of the meeting. You have an appointment with a VIP coming in from Singapore for a 6 PM dinner."

["Enough gentlemen,"] The businessman sighed when he stood up from his seat. ["I have no need for this brute or for any of your theatrics. His death shall wait. Right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to…"] He said, emphasizing the last part firmly.

The air dipped to an uneasy sense of tension as the two Neo-Nazi officers and Bo looked at each other, unsure and almost certainly outraged. While both the Moroha Group and the Neo-Nazis had been brought together with a common goal, and most certainly a common enemy, they could not help but feel the very condescending attitude that had been pressed on them since their defeat.

["Mr. Moroha, I beseech to you that you do not take us so lightly,"] Otto countered. ["Too long have we endured this ridicule! Your family may have assisted us and the Führer greatly in the past, but that is where our debt ends. All of our forces have been gathered for this mission, our strength is unassailable…"]

BAM!

The impact of Saruta's fist on his table startled every one inside the conference room, even the stoic Bo. ["No… I believe it is you who are mistaken, Herr Otto, _we_ were the ones that supplied you during your fledgling years after the war and it was _I_ who gave you support after your so-called resurrection fiasco!"] He sneered. ["If it wasn't for us, you would just another group of failed anarchists, forgotten in the sands of history…"]

["Why you!"] Bo moved threateningly forward, but was stopped by a cooler Klaus.

["As I said, his death will come… but not before I have ensured he has suffered pain and humiliation. Not until he has been broken and his life destroyed then will I take his life…"]

["Really, gentlemen, you should really learn some patience!"] Saruta said as he sat down complacently in a clear show of defiance and authority over his Neo-Nazi allies.

They could do nothing but resigned themselves to the silent truth, plotting, and waiting, like always. Their time, they vowed, would come soon.

Saruta steepled his gloved fingers after he sat down. Behind his hands, he smirked.

* * *

Conference Room, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Jonathan had entered the office via ID card issued to him by the Japanese office after his arrival to Tokyo from Anchorage since he's an employee. Directed to the conference room, he was greeted by Yamamoto and a Japanese man in his late 40s, wearing a black business suit, red necktie and white dress shirt, his black hair combed with gel. He appeared to have a well-shaven face.

"I'm glad you made it," Yamamoto shook hands with him. "Were you able to get something to eat?"

"I managed it. Don't worry." Jonathan said after he shook hands with the chairman. He had been able to get something to eat at the local 7-Eleven when he parked his motorbike at the basement parking lot.

"I want to introduce you to our head of security in ARCAM Japan," Yamamoto gestured to the suit-wearing man standing next to him. "This is Kenichi Takashige. Formerly a Major with the Ground Self-Defense Forces' Western Army Infantry Regiment."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Jonathan shook hands with Kenichi with a firm hand.

"I must say, Captain," Kenichi replied when he shook hands with the ex-Marine. "I read the bio provided by the New York office and I must say that I'm very impressed with your resume."

The three men sat down around the circular conference room table.

"I see that you took the Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course, the SERE School, Army Airborne School and the SOTG Schools as mandated by Force Recon, even the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program." Kenichi began when he sat down, going over the folder that has Jonathan's resume from his time in the Marine Corps.

Jonathan nodded when he heard the courses and schools he took back in the service. For him, it was nostalgia on what he went through when he qualified for Force Recon service.

"You also had Ranger School, Pathfinder and Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course as well. Though I must say, you do shine in urban warfare tactics when I was told by my counterparts in the Marine Corps about you during joint training exercises with WAIR."

"He'll be responsible for handling any operation involving the company's security assets involving anything that needs our branch's presence," Yamamoto explained the details of Kenichi's position to the American Spriggan agent.

"Understood, Chairman Yamamoto," Jonathan nodded. "Will I be able to get details from some of the local agents?"

"It'll depend on the situation. But you'll get assistance from the other Spriggans whenever they're in Japan." Yamamoto replied before he got an incoming phone call. "Excuse me."

"How are things proceedings?" Kenichi asked Jonathan after Yamamoto left to answer the phone call.

"Very good, sir." Jonathan replied before he sighed. "Though I don't understand why I got to be in an undercover op, even though it's a direct order from New York headquarters."

"Well, the security department does get the odd assignment ever now and then once in a while."

Jonathan was later approached by one of the secretaries, being told that Yamamoto needs him back in the field at once.

"Pardon me, sir. But I have to go." Jonathan bowed a bit in front of Kenichi. "But it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Of course, young man." Kenichi bowed in front of him as well.

Jonathan departed from the Tokyo office. Right now, he was to proceed as usual and rendezvous with Mai. Since their first meeting, she gave him her mobile number and the address of her residence so that she can have another chance to hang out with him.

* * *

Lobby, Shinjuku Prince Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

At the lobby of the Shinjuku Prince Hotel, scholars and science boffin-types milled around in the spacious lobby. The annual World Physics Conference was about to begin, and its participants and keynote speakers were dispersing to attend the meeting.

Professor Mayzel, ARCAM's head of research and renowned Orihalcon specialist, had originally been warned about his safety, but as a scientist, he felt that such a great meeting of minds was an obligation he could not avoid. As a result, along with his faithful assistant Margaret, he was accompanied by Yu Ominae and the mysterious Tea Flatte as a security element. The two received some assistance from the ASPA, mostly by blending in as civilians and to serve as their eyes and ears and secondary line of resistance in case the Spriggans are "kept busy" by the enemy.

["Looks like everything's quiet."] Yu murmured as he saw the delegates move after they were told by someone from the hotel staff that the conference is about to start in one of their ballrooms.

["Hopefully, it would stay that way."] Tea sighed when she eyed the delegates heading to the direction of the ballroom. She was seen leaning on the pillar near the reception desk.

["Are we expecting reinforcements anytime soon?"]

["I don't think so. We're being kept busy with some stuff happening in Manila as well."]

["Dammit. Just when we're being attacked back with the stuff in Turkey."] Yu gritted his teeth. ["But back then, the op there was just like a walk in the park, even when we dealth with the Machiner's Platoon."]

Tea didn't say anything else, but she agreed with the Spriggan's sentiment.

* * *

February 2008

Iraq

* * *

Jonathan was cleared by the medics to resume his duties since the ballistic plate on his vest saved him from being shot. Though it stung like hell, the slight pain didn't bother the Marine at all.

The other Force Recon Marines were busy securing the outskirts of the air base and at the same time, detaining any insurgents captured for intel.

"What are those guys doing?" Jonathan spotted a Chevrolet Silverado and Mitsubishi Raider technical parked outside on the HASes captured by SOG operators. He could tell who they were since they were wearing a mix of civilian and military clothes, unlike Delta since they were inserted in the country by blending in with other military units.

Around four SOG operators were present, securing the area.

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant?" Hayter waited for Jonathan to arrive when he was observing the SOG operators securing the HAS after they brought out one of the insurgents alive, who had been restrained after being shot in the arm.

"Fine and dandy." Jonathan sighed, still touching the spot where he had been shot previously. "What's happening here?"

"Not sure. Them CIA guys won't let me get near it just to check out whatever they have."

"You must be the guy in charge of the Force Recon contingent." A SOG operator approached Jonathan and eyed him carefully.

He was decked in a black tactical windbreaker jacket, desert yellow Oakley SF combat boots and MARPAT desert BDUs. He had a black watchcap worn over his head and a scarf of the same color worn over his nose and mouth. He appears to have an IZHMASH AKM assault rifle slung over his left shoulder with a commercial desert yellow tac vest worn over his chest, which held AKM magazines.

"Like I told your subordinate here, you guys aren't privileged to know what we're going to do with the contents of this hardened shelter."

"We took part in this anti-terror op with you guys...!" Jonathan began to shout at the SOG operator.

The SOG operator shouldered his AKM at him. The other three joined in as well.

"Don't you dare..." The SOG operator warned Jonathan. "You can call your CO if you like, but he'd tell you the same story."

Hayter was about to raise his M4A1 when Jonathan placed a hand on his weapon's foregrip.

"Cool it, Sergeant. Shooting each other won't solve anything."

"Hey! Those brats are here!" One of the SOG operators motioned to his comrade to check from the back.

"What the hell?" Hayter murmured when he saw several male teenagers of various ethnicities dressed up in a mixture of civilian and military gear, all of them armed with AK-type assault rifles.

"Number 31!" The SOG operator shouted at one of the AKMS-armed teenagers, who appeared to be of East Asian origin. "Get two squads to secure the rest of the hardened shelter! I want you here to confirm the presence of the OOPArt!"

 _OOPArt?!_ The order left Jonathan confused and perplexed.

"Yes, sir!" The child soldier saluted and went to check a locked chest taken by SOG operators as evidence. He knelt down in front of it to examine the lock.

"What the hell is that kid doing?" Hayter asked his CO.

"I have no idea."

With both hands on the lock, it was pulled off with ease thanks to the child soldier's enhanced muscles and reflexes.

"What the fuck..." Jonathan was a bit amazed and frightened that a child soldier working under CIA command could pull off such a thing. Though he wondered if it was due to the lock's age, especially it was already rusty.

"OOPArt secured, sir!" The child soldier opened the chest to reveal a clay jar and an iron rod, covered in several red blankets meant to protect them while they were being transported.

 _What the heck is that?_ Jonathan wondered what kind of thing the CIA was doing when they secured... some kind of museum piece. _Looks like something out of a museum?_

* * *

Outside Residence Yoyogi Park, Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Jonathan had just arrived at the outskirts of Residence Yoyogi Park after he left ARCAM's Tokyo HQ a few minutes ago. He was thankful that there wasn't any traffic, which allowed him to arrive a bit earlier by a few minutes. The former Marine shook his head, trying to not remember the incident in Iraq, even though it took place in 2008, it felt like yesterday.

 _Better let him know that I just arrived in the Yoyogi area._

Before he could get a phone call in to the security chief, he could hear someone yelling.

"Mai! MAIIII!" A voice of desperation shouted out in morning peace.

Curious housewives looked out from their apartment windows curious and eager for more gossip materials.

As part of the security detail, he had offered to send Mai to and back from Tokai U everyday, to his hesitation (And to which Mai interpreted as a sort of /attraction/ to her.) Jonathan didn't really dislike her outright. It was just that her girlish and bubbly attitude was annoying at times; he had to admit she was rather cute and charming…

But what did he know? His only exposure with girls was laughing at his buddies while they failed miserably chasing skirts back in Okinawa.

And, he reasoned, once this mission was over, he'd probably never see her again. But one thing was for sure, he hated waiting for them.

It was almost 45 minutes since he was waiting there… He was in limbo, pissed off as hell, unable to leave, and dreading the inevitability of Mai's glomping attacks which still left him sore. The loud sound of someone quickly bounding down the stairs made him look up…

"Couldn't you have waited a little, while longer? I haven't had my hair done up properly, you know…"

Jonathan nearly fell off his bike. The gothic dress she wore last night left little to the imagination, but as she stepped down, the pressure and temperature in Jonathan's face began to rise…

"What?"

Mai's lithe, athletic figure of her body stood out proudly in the thin fabric of her sailor fuku summer uniform she was wearing, framed by the mini-sized skirt, long black hair and ribbon on her blouse.

The loose socks, loafers, satchel and the two ribbons tied onto the long hair tendrils by the sides of her face completed the desirable schoolgirl look.

But what attracted Jonathan was her chest. Her size 95 breasts were barely held back by the tight blouse, but even then, it created a noticeable bulge that lifted the edge of her blouse a centimeter above her belly.

"So? Does it still fit?" Mai asked with a slight bush on her face, biting her lower lip anxiously. It was obvious to see where she got the uniform from.

Jonathan however only stuttered and mumbled in a feeble effort at a response. "Uh… ah… Don't you feel /cold/ wearing that?"

Mai sagged her shoulders unenthusiastically. _How dense could he be!_

"It's called fashion, you idiot…" She sighed. "I thought you foreign guys were into this kind of stuff?"

He blinked. "We do?"

She sighed again. "Anyway, today I'll be finally able to put that ganguro bitch Yuki in her place! She'll never call me unfashionable again!"

She ended with the laugh of a typical conceited Japanese female, with a twinkle of determination in her eye and a vain hand across her cheek. Jonathan just looked on blankly at the mysteries of female politics.

 _I'll probably need a better gig after this is over._

* * *

Somewhere on the roads of Shinjuku

* * *

Jonathan continued to endure Mai's ranting on how she plans to get back at Yuki and her gang by doing another round of DDR at some arcade out there if and when she can find the time to go there. The American Spriggan sighed and wished that she can talk about something else.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Mai shouted to get Jonathan's attention.

"Will you please not shout in my ear? I'm concentrating on driving this bike for crying out loud!"

"That's because I didn't hear your answer!"

"About what?!"

"About whether I should face her off in the arcade? That should show her. Right? Right?"

"Uh... maybe?"

* * *

Lobby, Shinjuku Prince Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Yu and Tea spotted six Caucasian men entering the lobby of the Shinjuku Prince Hotel at once. They appear to be wearing shades or surgical facemasks to conceal their identities from the public in case someone tries to call the police. And even at that, they appear to be armed with pistols concealed in shoulder holster since their windbreakers were partially zipped up.

It meant one thing. Trouble was coming.

["We got trouble."] Tea whispered to Yu when she walked up next to him.

["Yeah, I know."] Yu eyed the men until one of them picked up one of the empty lounge chairs and hurled it towards them.

"Everyone, take cover!" Yu shouted when the lounge chair was hurled at a pillar Tea used to take cover with.

Yu wore the earpiece on his left ear after he dived for cover behind the reception desk. The Caucasian men pushed and shoved the hotel patrons and guests out of the way, with a couple of them killing a couple of security guards by getting them into a headlock before their necks were snapped.

" **Take the package out of here! We're compromised!"** Yu shouted as another lounge chair was hurled towards the reception desk. **"I repeat, we're compromised!"**

* * *

Somewhere on the roads of Shinjuku

* * *

When Jonathan stopped the motorbike at a stop light in front of the 7-Eleven store, he caught sight of Yu engaging the Caucasian men inside the hotel as hotel patrons and employees ran out of the street lobby entrance due to the fight inside. Both he and Mai were caught aback by what's happening.

 _What the fuck is happening there?!_

"Did you see that?" Mai patted Jonathan's right shoulder when she saw Yu engage the Caucasian men with his bare hands and feet. The latter noted that Tea used the fighting to slip out of the lobby and into the hotel interior. "Isn't that the guy you played with in that shooting game in the arcade?"

"Yeah, you better stay rigghhhhtt here." Jonathan moved the motorbike out of the road so that he can park it on the side in front of the convenience store.

"Hey, wait!" Mai shouted when Jonathan took off his helmet and gave it to the university student.

"There's an emergency that I need to handle! Stay with the bike! It's not safe!" Jonathan shouted at her before he ran into the hotel.

"You can't leave the bike here! It's illegal to park it..."

* * *

Driveway, Shinjuku Prince Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

While fighting was taking place in the lobby, Tea and around three ASPA agents assisted Professor Mayzel in escaping from the hotel. A while ago, four ASPA agents went with Margaret away from the hotel via subway when they received word from Yu that fighting has started in the hotel lobby and heard ranting that the professor was the main target.

"We got the professor in." An ASPA agent told Tea before he could get inside the Toyota Crown S200 sedan when four Caucasian men appeared from the back alley to open fire with their pistols.

"Move!" Tea shouted as the ASPA-manned Crown placed the vehicle in reverse, putting it to the main road.

She smirked and threw her white kerchief that had a pentagram, drawn with black ink.

The armed men wondered what the hell she was doing.

Little did they knew that from the kerchief came two Calling Beast in the image of a winged lion.

"Monster!" One of the armed men shouted as he decided to bolt out since his pistol wasn't effective in fighting the beast off.

The others decided to cut their losses and retreat. The beasts, however, were hot on their tail and soon, caught up to them.

* * *

Lobby, Shinjuku Prince Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Yu was busy engaging the armed men by himself before Jonathan could even intervene. This time, the five men had their balisongs drawn out.

["Out of our way, Spriggan! We're after Professor Mayzel!"] One of the Caucasian men landed an attack on him by smacking his head with another lounge chair. Fortunate for Yu, he had his Armored Muscle Suit activated, which had the unfortunate timing of his M-65 jacket being partially ripped since it can't handle the stress of keeping it together.

["Screw you!"] The Japanese operative executed a roundhouse kick, following by a tackle. Yu saw the balisong fall out of his pocket. He picked it up and quickly flipped out the knife's blade before he drove it to the man's neck.

["Did I arrive too late?!"] Jonathan shouted when he arrived at the lobby, seeing it already cleared out of civilians.

"Holen Sie ihn!"

In response, two of the balisong-wielding men charged straight for Jonathan while the other three kept their attention to Yu.

["Guess this mean the more, the merrier then."] Jonathan prepared himself for a fight. Before one of them could lay a hand on the Iraq War veteran, he immediately took out a Strider SnG folding knife from the left pocket of his pants with his left hand.

["HAH!"] He shouted, drawing the knife's blade out and holding it upside down in a reverse grip stance.

["Take this!"] One of the two men lunged at Jonathan with the intent of stabbing him in the chest.

Thanks to his time in training with Force Recon and MARSOC, fighting in close quarters was already second nature. Jonathan took the initiative of putting the fight to his advantage by stabbing the man's right shoulder when he was at arm's length.

["AGH!"] The man shouted.

Jonathan grappled with him by grabbing him from his windbreaker's collar. He then dragged him close, back first, and held him in front of his face. Using his right arm to keep the disarmed man close, the American Spriggan held the SnG's blade close to his neck.

This made the other man nervous. All he can do was to move to the left or right, looking for a gap that he can exploit to save his comrade from being killed in such a disadvantageous position.

On the other hand, Yu was having better luck in handling his end. As the three men moved in for the kill, Yu drew out his customized combat knife in order to use the brass knuckle handle and punch one of them in the face and neck.

When the first man staggered back, Yu dashed in and slashed him by the neck, leaving him to die in an agonizing death.

["DIE, pig!"]

The second man lunged at Yu with his balisong. The only thing he did in response to the lunging attack was to immediately duck down. Yu slashed his legs twice, forcing the man to get down on his knees.

["AIYAH!"] Yu executed a headlock when he got behind him and snapped his neck.

The third man was a bit anxious about the fight, but he was nevertheless determined to do his job at the cost of his life.

["Try harder!" You're on the loosing end!"] Yu taunted him to get him off the edge.

["Don't test me, you Japanese swine!"] The third man said in anger when he gripped his balisong tight in his right hand.

["Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?!"] Jonathan shouted when he hurled something to the third man from the rear.

Yu stepped forward to stomp his head hard to knock him out cold. He then saw Jonathan was finished taking care of his business. It appeared that the second man he fought with got killed he tried to stab him by the neck. Instead, Jonathan used his buddy as a shield and took the advantage of the confusion to get rid of him after he got stabbed in the neck hard.

["You're done?"] Yu asked his fellow Spriggan after he sheathed his knife.

["Yeah."] Jonathan got a handkerchief from one of the downed men in order to clean the blood of his folding knife's blade before he threw it away to the nearest trash can and stored the weapon.

["I'm getting word that someone's trying to chase the professor. We need to commander a vehicle."]

["Let's go."]

The two ran out of the hotel lobby, already hearing police sirens from a distance.

* * *

Outskirts of Shinjuku Prince Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Illegal parking, riding without a helmet, not having a valid license… you're in for a whole lot of trouble, missy!" A pretty young traffic policewoman said, writing the ticket while her partner complained in the patrol car. "I'm hungry Miyuki! Let's go for lunch already!"

Mai on the other hand, could only fight back tears of embarrassment and anger, as she sat on the bike.

 _When I get my hands on you, Jonathan..._

"I told you for the umpteenth time, the bike doesn't belong to me…" Mai was close to tears. She was already cursing painful revenge on Jonathan for abandoning her when surprisingly, he appeared.

But instead of attending to the problem, he grabbed Mai and lifted her off the bike, opening the cargo space under the seat and pulled out a FN P90 USG submachine gun.

The two officers just watched stunned as Jonathan calmly closed back the seat, put Mai back on kit, and ran off to rejoin Yu. The officers remained speechless. Mai just frowned and sighed in exasperation.

"You idiot…"

["Over here!"] Yu shouted when he saw an abandoned Nissan Crew LS-F taxicab with yellow Nihon Kotsu Taxi markings on the side, the driver's door left open.

["Found something, huh?"] Jonathan raised an eyebrow when Yu got into the driver's seat.

["Yeah. Let's do this! I'm getting word of a vehicle chasing the Professor's Toyota Crown somewhere at the direction of the Shuto Expressway."]

Jonathan got in the front passenger seat after Yu got the sedan up and running. With doors closed, they drove off towards the direction of the Shuto Expressway from the Number 4 Shinjuku Route.

Chapter 2 END

* * *

PS - If the depicted German is wrong (The German-speaking characters are "obviously" from Germany), please let me know and I'll be glad to fix the mistakes as soon as I'm informed.


	3. Intervention

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 3: Intervention

* * *

February 2008

Iraq

* * *

Jonathan was cleared by the medics to resume his duties since the ballistic plate on his vest saved him from being shot. Though it stung like hell, the slight pain didn't bother the Marine at all.

The other Force Recon Marines were busy securing the outskirts of the air base and at the same time, detaining any insurgents captured for intel.

"What are those guys doing?" Jonathan spotted a Chevrolet Silverado and Mitsubishi Raider technical parked outside on the HASes captured by SOG operators. He could tell who they were since they were wearing a mix of civilian and military clothes, unlike Delta since they were inserted in the country by blending in with other military units.

Around four SOG operators were present, securing the area.

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant?" Hayter waited for Jonathan to arrive when he was observing the SOG operators securing the HAS after they brought out one of the insurgents alive, who had been restrained after being shot in the arm.

"Fine and dandy." Jonathan sighed, still touching the spot where he had been shot previously. "What's happening here?"

"Not sure. Them CIA guys won't let me get near it just to check out whatever they have."

"You must be the guy in charge of the Force Recon contingent." A SOG operator approached Jonathan and eyed him carefully.

He was decked in a black tactical windbreaker jacket, desert yellow Oakley SF combat boots and MARPAT desert BDUs. He had a black watchcap worn over his head and a scarf of the same color worn over his nose and mouth. He appears to have an IZHMASH AKM assault rifle slung over his left shoulder with a commercial desert yellow tac vest worn over his chest, which held AKM magazines.

"Like I told your subordinate here, you guys aren't privileged to know what we're going to do with the contents of this hardened shelter."

"We took part in this anti-terror op with you guys...!" Jonathan began to shout at the SOG operator.

The SOG operator shouldered his AKM at him. The other three joined in as well.

"Don't you dare..." The SOG operator warned Jonathan. "You can call your CO if you like, but he'd tell you the same story."

Hayter was about to raise his M4A1 when Jonathan placed a hand on his weapon's foregrip.

"Cool it, Sergeant. Shooting each other won't solve anything."

"Hey! Those brats are here!" One of the SOG operators motioned to his comrade to check from the back.

"What the hell?" Hayter murmured when he saw several male teenagers of various ethnicities dressed up in a mixture of civilian and military gear, all of them armed with AK-type assault rifles.

"Number 31!" The SOG operator shouted at one of the AKMS-armed teenagers, who appeared to be of East Asian origin. "Get two squads to secure the rest of the hardened shelter! I want you here to confirm the presence of the OOPArt!"

 _OOPArt?!_ The order left Jonathan confused and perplexed.

"Yes, sir!" The child soldier saluted and went to check a locked chest taken by SOG operators as evidence. He knelt down in front of it to examine the lock.

"What the hell is that kid doing?" Hayter asked his CO.

"I have no idea."

With both hands on the lock, it was pulled off with ease thanks to the child soldier's enhanced muscles and reflexes.

"What the fuck..." Jonathan was a bit amazed and frightened that a child soldier working under CIA command could pull off such a thing. Though he wondered if it was due to the lock's age, especially it was already rusty.

"OOPArt secured, sir!" The child soldier opened the chest to reveal a clay jar and an iron rod, covered in several red blankets meant to protect them while they were being transported.

 _What the heck is that?_ Jonathan wondered what kind of thing the CIA was doing when they secured... some kind of museum piece. _Looks like something out of a museum._

* * *

Somewhere on the roads of the Shuto Expressway, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Japan's drivers and highways were known throughout the world as the most courteous, contrary to the asphalt warzones that were the roads of other, similar industrialized countries.

But this morning, all of it went straight out the window. Drivers launched a barrage of horns and headlight flashes as the pursuers and the victim engaged in a desperate chase of cat and mouse. The two Spriggans tried their best to avoid the other cars that had the misfortune of being caught up in another of the world's secret wars.

"Can you see the vehicle?" Yu asked as he drove the Crew around the vehicles in the expressway if and when they got in the way.

"Not yet! Keep driving!" Jonathan replied when he checked on his P90 to ensure that it was fully loaded.

A few minutes ago, the Crew was able to drive through the toll booths when Yu saw a ETCS-mounted device on the taxi's dashboard, saving them some time and headaches from making a scene if they should wreck their way through by smashing the toll gate.

Jonathan caught sight of not one, but three black Mercedes-Benz E-Class E 63 AMG W212 sedans gunning for the Crown. The three German-made sedans drove through and around traffic, the drivers not hesitating to shove a car or truck out of the way by deliberately slamming onto the side.

"Drive us closer." Jonathan said when he got the Belgian-made submachine gun ready. "I want to shoot at those cars with this."

"You got it." Yu smirked when he pressed the accelerator down even harder.

As the Crew drove closer and closer to the W212s, Jonathan lowered the window of the front passenger door and zipped up his Armored Muscle Suit, the bulky muscles not getting in his way since he wore it like a jacket.

 _I'll probably go and see if I can ask about this suit. Maybe make it less bulky..._

Jonathan shouldered the P90 USG and took aim at the rear tires of the offending vehicles.

One of the W212s swerved out of control when the two rear tires were shot out. It spun around the expressway roads for a few seconds before it crashed onto the expressway's metal rails.

"One down, two to go!" Yu shouted when he pumped his fist up before he resumed his driving, moving to the right side of the expressway roads to help Jonathan get a better shot.

One of the W212's rear passenger windows were lowered down. The two got the shock of their lives when they saw a shades-wearing man in a black suit, red necktie and white dress shirt put his head and chest out with a loaded Bazalt RPG-7V2 anti-tank grenade launcher with a PG-7VL HEAT warehead loaded.

"Oh crap..." Jonathan murmured when he saw the RPG-7V2 aimed at the taxi.

"Hang on!" Yu kept one hand on the steering wheel while he used his other hand to get the seat belt buckle and pull it to wear it over his chest and lap. "Better brace for potential impact!"

The RPG fired the rocket meant to take out the taxi. At the last minutes, Yu was able to make the taxi accelerate even further. The rocket made impact with the metal rails instead, detonating in an instant.

"Keep driving and don't stop! I'll shoot these guys down!" Jonathan shouted when he opened fire again at the suited man who was now reloading the RPG. The driver lowered his window and joined in to fire his Glock 19 at the taxi. A few bullet holes were made at the windshield with others at the engine cover.

Since the two vehicles were neck and neck, a lone Honda Accord was caught in the middle of the crossfire. The driver received a bullet at the side, forcing him to swerve to the left. This followed when a Toyota Comfort YXS11 taxi crashed onto the left side of the Accord.

This forced Jonathan to cease firing his weapon. He didn't want a civilian's death in his conscience.

"Shit..." Yu saw on the rear view mirrors that the two vehicles crashed. This forced most of the vehicles to either stop and slow down or slow down and drive around the wreck. Only a few drivers called up 119 to request for emergency assistance.

"Let's end this..." Jonathan reloaded his weapon and opened fire at the driver on the second W212. His shots killed him on the spot, making the sedan crash by rolling over several times after it swerved to the left.

"Last one..." Yu pointed out the last W212 trying to block the Crown's way by driving to the side and smacking it on the side.

Jonathan concentrated on aiming the P90 USG at the sedan's tires as much as possible. He waited until there was a clear line of fire as the occupants poked their heads and/or their hands out to fire their Glock 19s at the taxi. Their suits were taking the brunt of the pistol fire just fine, but it felt like being hit with a kevlar vest on.

"These guys are getting on my nerves!" Yu shouted, cursing himself for at least not bringing his sidearm with him.

Jonathan opened fire at the rear tires. "Here goes!" He started by shooting the rear tires before he shot up the trunk and rear body. The occupants returned fire after Jonathan ceased firing.

This made Yu drive up close to the left of the last W212. Jonathan fired the P90 USG again, gunning down the front passenger and one of the passengers at the rear.

Thanks to that, the W212 began to spin around in circles for a few minutes before Jonathan shot out one of the front tires, ensuring that it wouldn't be able to move.

"Good work out there."

When Yu stopped the taxi, Jonathan motioned to him that he'd be the first to leave. Yu nodded and waited for him to leave first.

By the time the shootout was finished, the Crown carrying the professor was now driving way down the expressway and out of danger.

" **This is Command to Fairy. Package is secured. I repeat, package is secured. "** Yu heard over his earpiece that the professor was now in safe hands.

Jonathan took aim at the Mercedes when one of the surviving gunmen emerged from the vehicle to raise his sidearm. The American Spriggan quickly took him down with his weapon.

" **Command. We may have survivors on the scene, most likely from the kidnappers. Over."**

" **Understood. See if you can get one of them into our custody, Fairy. Over."**

" **Understood. Will see what I can do. Over and out."**

Yu stepped out of the taxi, door left open as Jonathan approached the sedan to check. He opened the doors and saw that most of the interior was already riddled with bullets, which meant that everyone was dead.

"Think I got a live one here." Jonathan told Yu when he saw one of the gunmen inside groan in pain. He had been shot in the right leg and left shoulder, his wounds bleeding. "Doesn't look Japanese at all."

"You're one lucky bastard, you know." Yu took a look inside the sedan and grinned when he saw the wounded man aim his weapon at him. He grabbed it and disassembled it unloading the magazine and pulled the slide back before he removed it completely and tossed the items back inside with the rest of the pistol.

"Heh." Yu gave a slasher smile. "You're not going out the easy way. We got some things we want to ask you."

Chapter 3 END


	4. Aftermath

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 4: Aftermath

* * *

?

* * *

"Has he talked yet?"

Yamomoto had just arrived when Yu and Jonathan were busy watching a medical doctor from ARCAM's Tokyo Hospital, who had been called in at the last minute to conduct a medical checkup off the record on the man captured a while ago on the expressway. While the two Spriggans were willing to execute him by shooting him at his temple, the chairman's words prevailed and they didn't bother to fight with his decision.

Tea had been summoned as well, alongside an East Asian female ASPA operator in plainclothes for bodyguard detail. Yamamoto had feared that whoever had been sent after Profesor Mayzel may have used advanced surgery or training to ensure he won't be able to talk to police or with intelligence. Moreso with ARCAM's own security forces.

"They've been strengthened physically and mentally…" Tea commented when she looked at the man on the cot, who was restrained with handcuffs placed on both of his wrists. "It's likely he won't respond to the usual methods."

Tea was one of ARCAM's top Spriggans and one of their strongest ESPers. She was especially known for her devastating mystic spells and powerful psychic abilities. Some said that she was a witch; others even reasoned that her own age was incalculable…

Jonathan always shivered when she was around. For that reason,she was highly invaluable in for their interrogations. Even if the prisoner possessed superior willpower, Tea could reach into the deepest, darkest recesses and wrench what she wanted. Those who cooperated usually survived. Those who didn't, at the least would turn up insane. Worst, a vegetable.

The others had that in mind as she spoke, and looked away… It was best to just quietly let her do her work.

"In any case," Yamamoto added with an uncomfortable sweatdrop, "The board of directors has dictated that we undertake this with the utmost importance. We must obtain information from him no matter what…"

Yamamoto usually disapproved with such forceful measures, but the board of directors were demanding answers. Just last week, two more facilities in Egypt had been destroyed. Unfortunately, they still didn't know who was behind it. Leads to the Machiner's Platoon, Trident and other adversaries had also turned up nothing…

He took a smoke and a walk, pausing towards a small commotion. Yu and Jonathan fighting again. Something about bad driving… Yamamoto laughed and reflected on his thought that day.

So young and they have to face death in the eye…

 _We really live in dangerous times._

Tea saw him and gave a similar thought. For that moment, the idea of fighting to stop fighting seemed ironic.

What was a victory if there was no future to live in?

"In any case," he interrupted, "We can relax now. Professor Mayzel will be safe here for now in this part of Nishi-Shinjuku, right at our old HQ and the only thing we can do now is wait. And besides, you need to be going back to your mission…" pointed Yamamoto towards Jonathan.

"Me?"

* * *

Corridor, condemned ARCAM Japan Headquarters building, somewhere in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Japan

* * *

The old ARCAM building was originally built as a veritable fortress, when it was made as ARCAM's Japanese headquarters during the Cold War. Despite looking like a throwback of architecture from the 70s, it served the purposes of its owners well. With reinforced concrete walls and sophisticated surveillance systems, not even a mouse could get in undetected even though it was scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt to modern standards.

While the upper levels of the building contained the archaeology labs and offices, the lower basements were home to ARCAM's extensive motor pool, weapon labs, firing range and armory.

Jonathan was wandering there like a lost soul after the debriefing and Yamamoto's parting words. He remembered he had something to do, but what?

Perhaps the leftover adrenalin from the battle was dampening his memory, he thought.

"Hey, kid!"

He leapt a few feet, screaming.

From out of the shadows, the owner of the cranky and disembodied voice stood out.

"P-Professor Mayzel!"

"Scared you? You're that new kid, Jonathan, right?" Mayzel spoke with his trademark devil-may-care grin. Jonathan remembered Yu's warnings on Mayzel's 'reputation'. Could this be it?

"Yeah, that's me…"

"Hmm… a little scruffy for a Spriggan… I was expecting someone with more… clout."? Mayzel replied, as if giving Jonathan a drill inspection.

 _Clout! Wasn't it good enough I saved your ass already? Just who exactly are you!_ Jonathan could barely hold in his feelings…

"Well, follow me."

And with that, Professor Mayzel spun and headed off into the dark corridors, leaving Jonathan no choice but to follow suit. As they walked, a dull smell of cordite hung in the air. These were where the weapon labs and firing range were, kept in the dark, away from prying eyes.

"Ah, we're here!"

Professor Mayzel turned to the left and went through a sliding door, to which Jonathan recognized as Weapons Lab 4.

* * *

Weapons Laboratory 4, condemned ARCAM Japan Headquarters building, somewhere in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Japan

* * *

When they entered, they could only find Maraget. Apparently, the armorer brought in to help the Spriggans get resupplied was away for the meantime.

"Margaret, you're here." Mayzel looked around. "Where did he go?"

"He said something about meeting with someone from the ASPA for a special appointment." The female scientist said. "But he left a few things for Mr. Harker to secure for his future use."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow when he heard the armorer left a few things for him.

 _Okay... Let's have a look._

The Marine veteran noted that several gun cases were placed on top of a long table. He counted around four with one of them being long enough to load an assault rifle or a sniper rifle.

"Looks like they're not locked." Jonathan opened the first two gun cases meant for a pistol. "And here we go..."

Jonathan inspected the opened case to see a loaded Glock 18C. On the side was provision for four 17-round magazines. The case also included an Aimtech APM-1R sight mount meant for Glock pistols.

He looked at the other case and noted that it had four 33-round magazines inside. A note was found inside.

Taking the note, Jonathan unfolded it to get a good read.

 _Yo,_

 _Gotta apologize, but your M93R broke down down after you conducted some firing practice with it a few days ago. Since parts aren't easy to come by, I had to dispose of it. No worries, it shouldn't raise any alarm with the Japanese law enforcement community. The Glock 18C is ready and fresh from the factory. It should serve nicely as your new machine pistol._

 _I made inquiries about getting you a firearm chambered in .45 ACP. It'll be a few days before I can get it ready._

"Thanks, Alaska." Jonathan murmured when he crumpled up the note and threw it away to the nearest trash can.

"All right." He felt how it was to be a good boy on Christmas Eve after he gripped the Glock 18C. Regardless, he conducted a brass check on the weapon when he pulled the slide slightly back to see if had a bullet in the chamber.

"Everything's in order, I take it?" Mayzel asked the newest Spriggan recruit.

"Not yet, prof." Jonathan opened the long gun case. "I still need to see what's inside here."

The long gun case opened up, which revealed a neatly folded black trenchcoat.

"I see that you're confused by what appears to be an ordinary trenchcoat." Mayzel smirked when Jonathan took it and unfolded it to have a good look. "I can assure you that I personally had a hand in creating that. I had to significantly reduce its strength in order to increase its mobility rate. But otherwise, you can easily fight while wearing it."

Jonathan looked at the professor, as if waiting for permission to try it out.

"Go on then, kid."

He nodded and tried the jacket for size. With the jacket zipped up to activate the artificial muscles, he folded the collar up.

"The collar's a nice touch too. It should help keep your face hidden in case you need to do some nasty stuff. By the way, I added some radar-absorbent materials like the Armored Muscle Suits I make."

"What about IR and heat signatures, prof?"

"Already in there. Should be helpful too when you're doing some sneaking missions."

"By the way," Margaret asked Jonathan. "Aren't you suppose to be somewhere else today?"

 _Oh crap! It's her! Gotta get back!_

For now, Jonathan left the jacket and secured the Glock 18C and two 17-round and 33-round magazines with him. He planned to secure the rest later on.

"THANKS PROF! GET SOMEONE TO BRING THE OTHER STUFF BACK TO HQ! THANKS!"

He ran off, leaving both scientists wondering if he should take some time off sooner or later.

* * *

?

* * *

It was already early evening when Jonathan arrived at the entrance of Tokai U's Yoyogi campus. He had a hunch that Mai would be there after making a few inquiries with intelligence. The Spriggan agent used the bushes and trees to sneak around so that she wouldn't notice who was at the campus entrance.

And she was there, sitting by a fountain in the courtyard, clicking her heels like a bored and lonely child. Seeing her alone like that in the yellow evening sun, waiting for a person that never came, made him feel guilty for leaving her like that.

 _Maybe I should make it up to her…_

But when he turned around, about to leave his hiding place in the bushes, a hand grabbed him by his collar and yanked him backwards… He knew who it was. Gingerly, he turned around and faced Mai, bearing down at him with all the anger of a goddess…

"Uh… I'm sorry?"

Unbelievably, Mai threw Jonathan from out of the bushes and onto the hard concrete floor, all with one hand. From that moment on, Jonathan knew that he was going to die… And with a single hand, she lifted him up and started hammering into him with the fury of a woman scorned.

"How could you leave me like that! Did you know how what I had to endure!"

"S-s-sorryyy!"

Mai gave him a sharp punch in the stomach.

"And I pushed your stupid bike all the way back from Ikebukuro! Did you know how far that was!"

"I…"

A jaw-shattering punch from Mai to his face cut him off

"And what was that with all those guns? When I heard about what happened in the bay, I…" Mai's face gradually softened as she turned away from Jonathan, looking down. Maybe, Jonathan thought, he'd been a little too uncaring towards her. Having people wanting to kill you or do worse, without you knowing why was terrible enough. Until the threat was over, maybe he should cheer her up a bit.

"Mai, I…"

Unfortunately for his troubles, he was given another sharp punch that snapped his head to one side… So much for feeling bad… If that wasn't enough, Mai proceeded to lift (Note that she was a good 7cm shorter than him) and throw him into the fountain. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Mai had a reputation of being known as the 'Kitsune of Yoyogi'. Piss this foxy she-devil off, and there would be hell to pay.

"Okay! Fine! I surrender!" Jonathan shouted, spitting out water, stepping out from the fountain. "I'm sorry okay! I'll do whatever you want, just don't kill me okay!"

Below Mai's covered face, a sly smile slowly spread across her face. "Anything?"

At the magic word, Mai sprang her trap. In a quick 360° turn, she was back to her cheerful self again, all anger vanished… "I wanna go to Shibuya!"

Jonathan was speechless. But the deed had already been done… "Shibuya? But I-alright…"

"Yatta! Thank you Jonathan!"

And with her usual perky self, she literally leapt onto him to show her appreciation. The only thing he felt from her was the near-suffocation when her breasts coincidentally landed on his face… causing a major nosebleed to happen.

"Jonathan! Are you all right!"

* * *

And so they went shopping alright, with Mai leading him by his arm all the way. Shibuya was known as Tokyo's youth hangout place, with androgynous youths and their equally garish girlfriends infesting the streets after dark. To others, it seemed like Mai and Jonathan was just out on a date like any other loving couple, although the reality was much more awkward and different. The more Jonathan tried to get away, the more Mai dragged him closer…

As they whimsically went trough the branded stores and futuristic shopping centers, Mai's eyes glazed at the handsome boys on the street and the glitzy displays in the windows. When they finally hit the famed Shibuya 109 shopping center, she went up straight to the branded stuff and to Jonathan's chagrin, to the lingerie sections too…

Now where were we... Oh yes! In the streets of Shibuya...

* * *

"This looks nice. Doesn't it, Jonathan?"

He nearly burst a vein. She was holding up a near-illegal bikini to her body to size it up. He fought off images of Mai wearing that at the beach, trying to keep the blood away from his face.

"I-isn't that a bit… ah, airy for your chest?"

"Well, then… does this get you all hot and bothered?" striking a pose with the bikini. The images finally broke through onto his mind, and Jonathan nearly had another nosebleed.

"M-Mai! That's public indecency!" Jonathan's embarrassed tone was almost a shout, causing a few girls to look curiously to their direction.

Mai gave a smile. "Of course not, you big dummy… I was just playing with you, baka…" she teasingly tugged on his jacket, as to emphasize the fact.

A stranger sight was Jonathan, standing by dutifully like a boyfriend while Mai checked out her unmentionable items at the payment counter. The middle-aged cashier nodded approvingly. Jonathan, could only manage a weak smile…

He was nearly carrying over 7 shopping bags (all bought under his paycheck of course) by the time they got out of the place. It looked like he'll be eating ramen noodles again this month… Jonathan thought that seriously, if she'd been given the chance, she'd be able to spend off the entire GDP of a developing country in a night. So far she'd bought stuff from Prada, Hermes, Burberry and lots of other foreign-named brands he didn't want to think about.

"Jonathan! Take a look at this!"

Mai's voice broke his train of thought.

 _Oh great, not another 10,000 yen pair of shoes for her to drool on._

Mai was enamored at a piece of costume jewelry shining brightly in the window display. It was a silver cross, similar to that which Misato in Evangelion wore, but it could be opened like a locket and having just the right size for a photo sticker to be put inside it.

"I want it…" Mai mouthed, more like a thought than an actual demand.

Jonathan thought that it did look quite nice… and suddenly he had a thought. He did feel bad for what he did to her and knew that he was doing this to make her feel happy, but he hadn't given Mai his apology yet.

Without thinking, he grabbed Mai and entered the shop.

"I'd like the one on display outside please."

Mai's eyes widened. "Jonathan…"

"I told you I'd say I was sorry…" Jonathan could not help but give a slight blush at his moment of weakness. Mai could not help but smile and give one her own. Very rarely had a guy given her a gift, and even so the rest had been just yapping hormonal kids. She knew, that it could be the start of something…

"Well, well, well… If it isn't the wannabe goth queen and her consort? I didn't know today was supposed to be cosplay night…"

Mai and Jonathan were on their way back when a highly unpleasant voice came from behind them.

"Hina…"

If different fashion preferences represented different factions in the university, Hina Matsuuga would well be Mai's arch-enemy.

The animosity and rivalry between Mai and Hina's rival Gothic Lolita group was great, even sometimes surpassing that of their hated Ganguro enemies. Let's say if they met on the street, something bad was bound to happen.

"What a coincidence, my dear Mai!" dragging out the end of her name in a tone of contempt, "I was just going to meet my boyfriend when I saw you across the street and decided to pay you a visit..."

Slowly, Hina started towards Jonathan. "And is this supposed to be your boyfriend?" "Doesn't look like much though… I was almost expecting you'd end up with those nerd admirers of yours!" She ended with a scornful laugh, after giving Jonathan an examination worthy of a piece of meat.

Jonathan felt a sweatdrop forming. I suddenly feel surprisingly insecure… Mai felt her anger rising, but kept it in and cracked a smile. After all as a leader, she had to put those inferior to her in their place…

"If you'll excuse me," yanking Jonathan away, I still have some shopping to do with my slave here… In fact, we were just planning to visit that Hermes outlet in Ginza now…" Let's see you top that, Hina!

Jonathan thought otherwise… "Slave! Since when-OW!" And received a sharp pinch for his troubles.

Hina just smiled. _Slave? Getting desperate, Mai?_ But Hina had more than one way to humiliate Mai today… "Oh, have fun then! I'm off to Odaiba for date with my boyfriend!"

Mai stopped and turned. Odaiba was the place for many fancy restaurants, and to get a boyfriend who was willing to take you there was even rarer… _So does she want to fight, does she!_

"Ah, here he comes now!"

A shiny, black and ominous Mercedes-Benz W212 pulled up to them and disgorged a suited bodyguard that deftly opened the door for the honored passenger at the back…

"Saru-chan!"

The white-coated and gloved figure that stepped out was none other than Saruta Moroha himself. As he approached them, Jonathan unconsciously pulled Mai closer to him. There was something he didn't like about him.

"Did you wait long?"

"Not at all Saru-chan!" Hina screamed, latching on to Saruta with all the grip of a baby chimpanzee. "I was just talking to my friend Mai here on her boring plans tonight!"

Ignoring her puppy love-addled ramblings completely, he locked his magnetic gaze on Mai… and in turn, when she met his femininely handsome face, she felt flushed and a attraction, as if she falling for him…

 _T-that's Saruta Moroha, the playboy! D-damn… what should I say?_

Dispensing with Hina, Sauta moved towards Mai, never breaking his glance.

"And who might this far lady be?"

"I-I'm M-Mai…"

And to Jonathan and Hina's surprise (and envy), he just bent over and kissed her hand… Mai felt as if she was about to faint. Jonathan could not do anything but just watch and place his hand near his shoulder holster.

 _If I could only waste him now…_

"And you sir?" Saruta held out his hand while Jonathan stared, barely restraining himself. "I am Saruta Moroha. It is a pleasure to meet you." Should he accept? He knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what…

"Jonathan." Clasping Saruta's hand at last, "Jonathan Harker."

 _What a sickening face._ Jonathan really hated pretty boys.

"Saru-chan! Forget them! We're late already!"

"Why of course."

He fixed his eyes on Mai again. "Say Hina, my dear, why don't we invite Mai and Jonathan to dinner tomorrow? We could enjoy the company."

"Whaat!" Hina brattily replied. "But Mai doesn't even have a boyfriend? That guy over there is just his so-called shopping slave! Of course, it would be very awkward for her to just come alone…"

All giddy thoughts about Saruta evaporated when Mai heard that. That was a downright challenge and no inferior slut or her boytoy boyfriend was going to get away with that!

"He's not my slave! He's my BOYFRIEND!" Mai gave a retaliatory shout, to the surprise of everyone (Including Saruta), embracing Jonathan in a bonecrushing hug.

CRACK

"OW-!"

There was no way she was going to lose.

"Well then, it's settled. A reservation for four at iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill in Odaiba. Please dress appropriately. We'll be waiting…"

With that, they turned to leave in the W212, with Hina sticking her tongue at Mai from behind. It was a full 5 minutes after they left when Mai finally released Jonathan…

"What was that about! I didn't say I was going to be your boyfriend!" Jonathan shouted massaging his muscles. He could have sworn he felt something dislocated…

"Of course it's assumed, you idiot! Until we get rid of that bitch Hina that is…"

"But I'm almost broke from today!"

Mai gave him a swift kick in the stomach.

"Then think of something! Besides, people are going to think you're gay if you stay single any longer!"

While Mai continued to insult him, a call came through. He took out his Iphone 3GS and answered it.

"Damn, Jonathan, You sound as if someone kicked your ass!"

"Very funny, Yu. What's up?"

"We found Jean."

The news left him stunned.

"How..."

"Tea got to do her magic. I'd let you in, but you probably don't want to see the end results."

"What about backup?"

"Still working on it. Best time we leave is tomorrow morning."

"Understood"

Jonathan called it a day when he brought Mai back to her place. He then went back to the ARCAM in order to assess the situation with Yamamoto and any other help that he may bring along.

* * *

Conference Room, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

The conference room was now in use by Yamamoto, who told Yukari to inform staff that he'll be in a special meeting all night.

This meant getting some takeout food.

Yamamoto had just entered the room again with a bunch of documents in hand. Major Takashige, Jonathan and Yu were present, already discussing the plans for their latest operation.

"Our friends in Seoul came through for us." Yamamoto took his seat next to Takashige.

"Does that mean the prisoner Tea interrogated didn't become a vegetable?" Yu asked his question without any care in the world.

Takashige shook his head. "No. Tea was able to get through to him, but the security department needed a day or so to confirm his answer."

"That department needs to work itself up."

"Indeed. But they got us a solid location on where he's holed up."

Yamamoto showed the Spriggans colored surveillance photos of what appeared to be a bunch of skyscrapers with the location marked as Seoul.

"What's in there?" The ex-MARSOC operator asked.

"It's where Jean's being kept as prisoner. Our captive mentioned about a monster locked up inside one of the Moroha Group's offices in downtown Seoul."

"So our mystery enemy's in league with a Japanese multinational company dating back from the end of Japan's occupation?"

"Be as it may, this is the best and only lead that we have regarding his disappearance."

"We leave by morning?"

"Yes. We got an AA flight heading to South Korea in the morning. Our Seoul office has informed me that an ASPA tac team is already on a 24 hour standby order."

"Right. Aside from them, are we expecting any additional reinforcements?"

"No. The others have serious matters that they need to attend to, but New York can't spare anyone, even if they want to."

"Cheh…" Yu sighed in frustration. "Would have been nice if the doc wasn't in Thailand doing his medical clinic work."

Jonathan decided to not listen to Yu ramble.

A few minutes later, an office employee knocked on the door and entered, carrying a couple of boxes from Shakey's Pizza.

"Let's have a break first before we resume our debriefing."

"Understood, sir."

Chapter 4 END


	5. Rescue Op

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 5: Rescue Op

* * *

The other metropolitan city in the region capable of rivaling Tokyo's glitz lay blanketed in a low fog as a slight drizzle covered the city. It was a cold night, and not even the beggars were going to risk their limbs to be out there. Past the majestic ruins of South Gate in Jung lay the heart of Seoul, a massive shining triplet of glass and steel stood out in the darkness of the night.

The recently constructed Seoul Tower, located in Seocho's neighborhood or _dong_ in Korean near the Nambu Expressway, is one such example of the city's rising progress as a major city in East Asia.

It was also one of the few office buildings that houses the majority of Moroha Group's various Korean branches. And like most MG offices worldwide, they secretly serve as the headquarters of its various paramilitary forces if and when they covertly operate under the pubic eye in the Korean Peninsula.

* * *

Security Room, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

Two men inside Seoul Tower's security room were monitoring live camera feeds when they were having a discussion between them, being the only persons inside alongside a technician, who was stationed to make sure the security equipment was running properly.

"It looks like nobody's coming. It's a false alarm if you tell me…"

"I don't know, Han. The warning that headquarters sent us from Tokyo was pretty explicit, especially since the info came from Chairman Moroha himself. He said that the guy up there takes top priority…" the other man motioned with his finger, pointing up. The one known as Han was not amused.

He was the security chief for the entire building and they had already overextended themselves in handling the Headquarters' 'Secret Project'. And now came an order to increase security by another 100. He shook his head at his Junior's opinion. Yes, like most of the incidents in his 20-year career, it was probably going to be nothing.

"You've got a lot to learn, Jung-ahn."

They arrived at their destination; the security room which served as the main nerve center for the entire building. The walls inside was filled with television screens, each displaying a different part of the building.

"Huh," Han breathed as he scanned the screens. "We have almost 500 cameras and 200 men guarding this place. Not even a mouse can move in or out without my say-so. And Headquarters wants us to defend against an imaginary attack!"

While Han continued with his self-indulgent spiel, a screen showing a view of the building carpark entrance flickered.

"What was that?" _A connection problem?_ Jung-ahn wondered. No, highly improbable. The connections were all fiber-optic.

 _Unless…_

"Reroute sources for all cameras!" He shouted to the technician.

"Yes sir!"

At once, the screens revealed the true picture. At the entrances, the bodies of eliminated guards littered the floor, and in one screen, a fleeting shadow, obviously the culprit darted just out of view.

"What!" Han shouted incredulously. "Intruders! Sound the alarms!"

* * *

Basement Parking Level 3, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

Two ASPA tactical squads, clad in black from the black helmet covers worn on their Advanced Combat Helmets, balaclavas, tac gloves, boots, BDUs and assault vests, provided cover fire for Yu and Jonathan as the two Spriggans ran towards the elevator lobby. They gunned down several guards with their suppressed Heckler & Koch UMP45 submachine guns, equipped with tac light/red laser vertical foregrips and Aimpoint CompM2 red dot sights.

They dismounted from a Hyundai Starex van _acquired_ from the used car market and disguised it as a building cleaning service van. The driver had been the last to leave, having to change from the fake blue jacket, pants and white sneakers used to disguise himself as a janitor to the same black uniform used by his fellow ASPA operatives.

["Come on, Yu! Let's go!"]

Yu and Jonathan ran for their lives as they ran to the elevator lobby with their Armored Muscle Suits activated for this operation, the latter a bit behind since he had to securely carry a metal case with a carry handle attached on top. As they made their approach towards the lobby, they spotted four guards with their pistols out of their holsters.

For the operation, Yu has a black Condor 7 Pocket Chest Rig web gear with a UTG Special Operations Universal Tactical leg holster strapped to his left leg and the sheath to his ARCAM-made combat knife strapped on the rig's waist belt from the back. Jonathan was equipped with a black Eagle Land Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System vest, outfitted with a ballistic neck protector collar and shoulder protectors with a UTG Special Operations Universal Tactical leg holster strapped to his right leg.

Yu, as always, opted to wear a modified red thick padded boxing training helmet with a microphone mounted inside. Jonathan, on the other hand, opted to just wear a balaclava to conceal his face with an earbud placed on his right ear, connected to a radio extender on the vest's radio pouch with a PTT button clipped on the vest. Both of them wore different tactical boots.

The Japanese Spriggan operative immediately crouched after he shouldered his Heckler & Koch G3A4 battle rifle and fired single shots to conserve ammo. His shots killed two guards.

On the other hand, the American Spriggan operative got his Fabrique Nationale P90 LV submachine gun with the visible laser module turned on after he placed the metal case down. He took aim and took out the last two guards, the laser used to help him aim his weapon.

["Say, Yu,"] Jonathan spoke to the teenager after he picked up the case again.

["Yeah, what? Got something on your mind?"] Yu got an elevator access card from one of the guard's corpse.

["You know, I've heard _stories_ about Jean… How did a guy like him get caught?"] Jonathan asked him as he covered for Yu when he inserted the card to a keycard to call in the building's private elevator.

["Huh?"] Yu mumbled, snapping out a daze. ["O-oh, yeah, he sorta disappeared after our Canadian base in the Yukon got attacked a month ago. If I recall from the last message, the research team just found an OOPArt."] The events of his adventure in Mount Fuji were still clear in his mind. One of his first missions for ARCAM, he'd nearly escaped with his life.

 _Rie…_ She was one of the few links to his past next to his distant relatives in America. Yu wondered now where she was? Probably still working on her ancient scripts in university, he thought.

["Okay..."] Jonathan nodded as he waited for the elevator to come down to the basement level.

* * *

Security Room, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

These so-called 'Spriggans' were not to be trifled with... One feature of the security room was it was able to control and monitor all functions of the building, including the electricity and the lifts... And it was exactly what was going through Han's thoughts as his hand went over to the lift controls.

"Dammit." Jung-ahn was frustrated. "What do we do, sir?"

Han watched the two Spriggans enter the private elevator. Before it started to go up, Yu used the G3A4's buttstock to smash up the surveillance camera on top of the car.

The building's security chief smirked when he saw the camera feed go offline.

 _Fools. I control the building!_ With a deft move of his hand, he realigned the lift to stop at the 20th floor, where his troops were awaiting them. _These men are the cream of the crop. I trained them myself! These 'Spriggans' will be dead before they reach the first corridor..._ A wicked smile crept across his face. _Do not disappoint me, men!_

* * *

Private Elevator, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

["Anyway…"] Jonathan began in an irritating tone, ["What I was meaning was will Jean still be alive when we get there?"] _Asshole. Rambling off again…_

["Huh? What? Oh-yeah! Right! Jean might look like a wuss on the outside, but he's quite an ass-kicker! I bet when we get there' he'll be probably insulting us for being so late-]

BAM!

The lift suddenly jolted to a stop, sending everything not held down flying. Instinctively, Jonathan and Yu grabbed the metal case.

["Thank god it didn't explode…"]

["The lift stopped."] Yu observed.

The lift, currently on the 40th floor started descending slowly.

["Shit, it's a trap!"] Jonathan cursed.

["I told you we should have used the stairs."]

["Well, I'm as sure as hell not going to carry the damn bomb all the way up!"] he retorted.

Yu was now on the radio and spoke through the microphone. **["Alpha Team, check in!"]**

 **["Alpha Team here."]** Yu heard the voice of an ASPA tac team assaulter, who has a clear English voice with little to no hint of a Korean accent. **["Basement parking is clear. We're securing the area now. Bravo's going up soon to provide support."]**

 **["Thanks, Alpha. Watch your six. Tell Bravo to expect a lot of resistance, over."]**

 **["Will do, Fairy."]**

Yu conducted a brass check on his G3A4 to ensure it was still loaded. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was still chambered.

Jonathan was left to wonder how Yu's choice of headgear, but shrugged it off and decided that he probably had a good reason for it.

["No ETA from Bravo?"]

["Afraid not..."]

The two Spriggans got their weapons ready in anticipation of an ambush now that the elevator car is being controlled from the building's security room.

["Got some grenades ready?"]

["Sure do. But I'm carrying the case..."]

["I can take care of that."]

["Thanks."]

Jonathan got a frag and a flashbang grenade from the pouches of his vest.

DING!

The elevator car came to a stop on a random floor. Jonathan got the grenades ready.

* * *

Lobby, 30th Floor, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

At Han's orders, the Moroha Private Army or the MPA has mobilized the regular force to the 30th floor while others were mobilized to hold off additional ARCAM reinforcements trying to secure the lower floors of the Seoul Tower. The RF is known to insiders as "Pointmen" for being the first to be deployed in any combat operation, being clad in black BDUs, combat boots, Armocom 6B7-1M ballistic helmets, Flyye Industries Force Recon MOLLE vests and SpecOps/SEALs drop leg-type holsters.

Most of them have taken position at the elevator lobby, after being told via radio channels, that the private elevator has stopped on the floor. They've been ordered to immediately open fire with their Norinco QBZ-97B carbines and Zastava M97 submachine guns even before the doors opened up.

And they did just that.

"CEASE FIRE!"

The order came after the elevator doors were fully opened. But as the doors were opening up, the primed frag and flashbang grenades were hurled at the assembled Pointmen.

"GRENADE! GRENADE!"

"EVERYBODY! GET BACK...!"

The warnings came too late as the grenades detonated after they were hurled. The explosions resulted in numerous casualties with several Pointmen dead and some slowly dying of their wounds from shrapnel. A few were dazed and dizzy, due to the strong flash of light and noise from the flashbang.

Jonathan shot dead one of the regular MPA soldiers who tried to aim his pistol at him despite being dazed with his P90 LV.

Yu was on the alert with the G3A4 fired at a wounded MPA soldier who tried to fire his shotgun at him.

["Clear!"] Yu shouted when he didn't any sign of resistance.

Jonathan walked up towards a wounded MPA soldier who tried to crawl away since he had shrapnel wounds to the legs and parts of his chest. He didn't have any of his weapons with him, which were most likely dropped during the gunfight. He walked up to him and executed him by firing his Glock 18C at the back of his head twice.

["What the hell do you think you're doing!"] Yu shouted angrily behind Jonathan, after he saw the killing of the wounded soldier. ["He's injured! You didn't have to kill him!"]

As Yu spoke, Jonathan turned. There was a cold look in his eyes that unnerved Yu. ["If I didn't kill him, he could have shot either of us. It was either me or him…"]

 _Damn, not another one…_

["He was unarmed! He wasn't a threat!"] Yu protested, trying to slap some sense into him. A killer Yu was, but killing the innocent and wounded was not something he partook in. As a veteran in the Spriggans, he had somewhat of a duty towards the newer members and he did not want Jonathan to end up like a crazed death-wished bloodthirsty killer like he was back when he was a brainwashed soldier for COSMOS.

["Whatever,"] Jonathan turned back. ["You wouldn't understand… C'mon. We need to get to that room."]

 _Understand? Understand what? What exactly did he go through!_

Jonathan took a folded piece of paper from his CIRAS vest pouch and unfolded it. He examined it and saw that it was the map of the building's 30th floor. ["Huh. We're in luck."]

Yu looked at the map Jonathan has and noted a X mark on it. ["That's the location, all right."]

The map of the 30th floor pointed to the location of a medical clinic. Which according to building literature, is said to house an in-site clinic for any employees working there in case of medical assistance that can done there short of taking said person to the nearest hospital.

["Let's move."] Jonathan quickly folded the map and stored it back on his vest and took the lead. Yu covered his rear as they walked as fast as they can, searching all the deserted offices until they came across a sign that says MEDICAL CLINIC in English and in Korean.

* * *

Medical Clinic, 30th Floor, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

The Spriggans kicked the doors leading to the clinic, shooting the three MPA soldiers dead when they caught sight of them trying to take aim with their weapons in the lobby, being taken by surprise. They were all shot in the chest four times.

["All right... Where the hell is he?"] Yu murmured when he kicked the weapons away from them while he aimed his battle rifle at their corpses. He used his left foot to kick their corpses three times to make sure they were dead and were not pretending to do so in order to get the drop on them.

Jonathan searched the nearest rooms, but found them to be ordinary rooms for patients who simply need to rest on the cots. ["These are clear."]

["Let's go!"] Yu continued with the search

They continued to search the empty rooms, kicking or forcing the doors open and sweep them before they move to the next one until they struck the jackpot.

There was a locked door as an obstacle, which had an electronic lock in the way. But it didn't hold them back for long. A bullet through the lock did away with the decrypting process and they barged in…

The room in question was a spacious two-floored foyer with marbled floors and pillars and red velvet furniture. The low-key soft lighting and glass water features completed the ambience of the room, which was used by the corporation to receive guests.

Like any interrogation room, it was sparse and dark, save for a single spotlight in the center of the ceiling illuminating downwards. In the middle of the light, Jean sat, strapped to a dominating metal chair. His head lay bowed and numerous restraints and IV tubes snaked around his arms and bare chest.

["Christ."] Jonathan murmured, at the sight of Jean's form. ["They didn't really have to do that did they?"]

["Of course they did. Drugging him was a smart thing too. Jean would have torn them a new one if he'd ever wake up…"] Yu replied in a matter-of-fact tone. ["C'mon, let's get him out of there before he kills _us_ instead…"] motioning towards the chair and securing his G3A4 by moving it on the back since it was slung on his right shoulder. Jonathan suddenly felt an immense and absurd sense of irony. _What? No compassion for your fellow soldier…?_ Seeing him carelessly pulling out

The IV tubes just heightened the feeling. Ouch! _Damn Yu, you could have been a little gentler…_

["I can't believe this shit…"]

A murmur from behind Yu indicated that Jean was stirring from his drug-induced stupor. The dark haze of unconsciousness slowly gave way to light and before he knew it, Jean found himself back into the world of the living.

["Wh-what the hell happened…?"]

["Had a nice dream?"]

Jean smiled. ["Shut up, Yu."]

Jonathan pointed to the straps that were placed on his arms and legs to make sure he wouldn't try of escaping in case he was alone and fully awake.

["On it."] Yu drew out his combat knife and used it to cut the straps.

Jonathan got on his radio. **["Bravo Team. I need a status update."]**

 **["We're taking some small arms fire, Goblin. I repeat, we're taking some fire."]**

The Marine veteran could hear gunfire through the transmission. **["Understood. Just hold out as much as possible. We got the package and we're about to leave."]**

 **["Understood, Goblin."]**

["W... who's he?"] Jean weakly sat up as he tried to get off the bed, feeling slightly tired from the anesthetic administered to keep him unconscious.

The last thing he remembered was that there was this monster in front of him… and then darkness. And now he wakes up to find himself half-naked, covered in a hospital-type gown with Yu next to him when he placed his free hand behind his shoulders. If those guys back at base heard this, he would hear no end of it.

["He's the new guy recruited by HQ in New York."] Yu told Jean as he helped Jean stand up. ["Used to be with the US Marine Corp."]

["Hmmm..."] Jean mumbled, still under the effects.

Jonathan waved his hand to signal Yu to follow him as he took the lead in exfiltrating from the clinic and back to the lobby. He and Yu received word from ARCAM's Seoul branch that they'll be exfiltrated from the same route, but with a chopper on standby in case the first route is not suitable.

* * *

Lobby, 30th Floor, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

When the trio got out of the clinic, it was unusually quiet even when they got word of incoming enemy reinforcements trying to block their escape.

["Either it's our lucky day or they're damn late."] Yu murmured as he continued to get Jean moving towards the elevators.

["Oh crap..."] Jonathan quickly raised his P90 LV when he saw armed Pointmen charging out of elevators and the floor's two fire escapes to block them from leaving the building.

["Take cover...!"] He was about to jump to cover behind the nearest pillar when he was shot in the chest. He collapsed, back first.

["Shit..."] Yu fired the G3A4 with his right hand, using the combat sling to provide stability since he was busy trying to get Jean to safety as they moved towards the pillar.

["You bastards… I'll kill you for what you did to me!"] To the surprise of everyone in the room, Jean began staggering forward, still weakened and under the influence of the drugs used to restrain him.

["Jean! Wait!"] Yu shouted, alarmed.

But it was too late. A barrage of bullets hit Jean, felling him.

["B-blood… My blood…"] Jean murmured as he was forced to go down on his knees, coughing blood from his mouth.

"Move in! Move in!" Someone from the Pointmen shouted, which was then followed by hurling multiple smoke grenades towards Jean.

* * *

["Ow."]

Like a zombie from the grave, the one that was supposed to be dead rose up straight. Jonathan winced and clutched his left breast where the sniper bullet hit. _Damn._ There would be a large bruise there tomorrow… The principle of the properties of Orihalcon as a bulletproof material was similar to that of Kevlar itself.

The kinetic force of a bullet upon impact would be spread across the material, stopping the bullet although the wearer may suffer blunt-force trauma due to the momentum of the bullet. Orihalcon increased the factor, offering heat and pressure resistance as well as being _very, very,_ hard.

However, like Kevlar, the thickness of the material cushioned the more force.

In fact, Jonathan felt like he had a heart attack. The bullet was meant for his heart, and although he was safe Jonathan felt angry, partially for the pain, and the other, the humiliation and stupidity of being the nearest target. ["Bastards…"] He scowled through clenched teeth. Standing up, the deformed core of the bullet slowly slid off his AMS… ["You're going to pay…"]

He turned to the side and saw several MPA soldiers converge towards Jean after it appeared that he was shot at multiple times. They didn't pay attention to him since they assumed that he was already dealt with. He saw Yu conduct suppressive fire to keep their heads down.

["JEAN!"] Jonathan ran over to his fallen comrade, firing the P90 LV at the distracted MPA soldiers, killing several of them.

 _Damn, not again…_ ["Jonathan…!"] Yu shouted when he drew out his SIG Sauer P226 from his holster; ["Get out of there and hide…"]

"Are you nuts! They killed Jean!"

["Jonathan… Just run!"] Not wanting to stay around any longer, Yu himself dove for cover while he fired the pistol by using his left hand to fire it. _Run!_ Jonathan slowly turned to ask Yu what he meant by that, only to find himself face-to-face with Jean's lycanthrope form…

["OH SHI-"]

"RRRAAWR!"

 _His normal personality completely disappears… so he won't come out until he's killed everything that moves…_

In this case, that meant Jonathan, who was so happening to be standing right in front of him… He dodged Jean's savage slashes and ran for his life; the Pointmen however, started firing like mad, even to the point of using Ordnance Factory Board-made MGL grenade launchers loaded with HE rounds (Probably due to the fact that Jonathan was running _towards_ them as well…) But not even the bullets and a direct hit from a grenade could fell Jean and he ripped through the troops in an orgy of gore and mutilation. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were just blood and body parts. Slowly, the effects wore off, and Jean returned to his human form, dropping to the floor, exhausted.

["Well, it looks like you saved us again. I always wondered what we'd do without your wolf form…"] said Yu, coming out from his hiding place. _Rifle bullets and HE grenades directly on his body, and yet nothing…_

["So where's that new guy? Don't tell me he's dead already…"]

Jonathan slid down slowly from the pillar he was taking cover on. ["What… the… hell… was that!"]

["You didn't tell him?"]

["Guess it slipped my mind…"] Yu gave a sheepish smile.

Jonathan's heart skipped a beat; _you can't just simply forget something like that!_

["Well, Jean's a Lycanthrope; he turns into a beast whenever he sees his own blood… And once that personality takes over, he doesn't turn back until he's killed everything in sight…"]

["Hey! Stop making it sound so bad!"]

While they started bickering in an almost comical manner, Jonathan, culminating with whatever he just saw, thought that the both of them had truly gone mad…

 **["To Fairy and Goblin..."]** Yu and Jonathan received a new transmission on their headsets. **["We're encountering more resistance from incoming enemy reinforcements in the lower floor. HQ has advised us to retreat via helipad on the roof. I repeat, we're advised to exfiltrate from the roof."]**

 **["Roger, can you guys make it?"]** Jonathan asked the ASPA operator.

 **["No worries, Goblin. We're getting ready to torch the van before we leave."]**

 **["See you on the top side guys. Out."]**

["Are you all right?"] Yu asked somewhat innocently. For the entire lift ride, Jonathan had been quiet and subdued, eyes closed. _That sniper shot sure looked painful…_

["Well, what do you think, Mr. Obvious!"] he said, shooting an angry glace at Yu as he placed a hand on his chest, massaging the place where the bullet hit. ["Now let's get this damn thing running…"]

 _So much for being concerned…_ Yu sighed, before he got up and joined Jonathan as he picked up the dropped case and walked towards the nearest operational elevator car.

* * *

Elevator Car, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

Yu helped Jean inside while Jonathan provided security as he placed the metal case down on the car's floor. The former pressed the button for the 48th floor, but realized that it could wear with an access card, so he used the same card used in the private elevator before he pressed the button again. This time, it worked.

Jean took a functioning Argut A25 radio extender from the vest of a dead MPA soldier and turned up the volume loud enough for them to hear before he handed it to Yu as he needed to sit down and rest. The Spriggans requested for assistance from the ASPA teams, that were also on the way up by using another private elevator car that they found in another part of the basement parking lot, for Korean language interpretation.

The much-vaunted case was opened, to reveal a 2kg Semtex bomb. The bomb was to be a diversion, as part of the escape plan. Once they broke into the building and reached the level where Jean was held, they would detonate the bomb, sealing off the lower levels from them. Simple; but like all best laid plans, there was an equal chance of failure…

["Timer set to 15 minutes…"]

The ASPA operator came back on the radio and informed them that the building's security chief is prioritizing the intruders who carried Jean out. A small team would be deployed to combat the ASPA teams.

While Jonathan was setting the fuse, Yu was busily detaching a panel from the roof. The steel plate fell with a loud clang and a gust hot air from the elevator shaft blew in. ["Right, we'd better get a move on…"]

Jonathan broke open the lift's control panel and flicked the 'stop' switch, sending the car to a halt. Yu climbed out into the shaft and waited. As soon as the bomb was set and the elevator sent back down, they would climb the rest of the two floors by the elevator cables. Hopefully they would be well clear by the time it exploded.

Jean began to climb through the open space on the roof. Despite feeling a bit tired, Jonathan helped him up as Yu carefully pulled him up.

The buttons were reset after it stopped and Jonathan pressed the button for the ground floor, jumping up to join Yu as the lift started moving downwards. Below, reinforcements were already gathering at the first floor, ready to strike back at the intruders.

["Hope you like the gift."] Jonathan smirked as he was the last person to get out of the elevator car.

* * *

Security Room, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

Han smiled when he saw the 100 or so Pointmen forces gathering the lobby, preparing to enter the building. He had not lost yet.

But a massive explosion followed next, immolating the entire lobby along with the troops and taking out the 5 floors above it. The force blew out the glass windows of the bottom half of the building and everything in the lower levels. The building and pillars still remained stable, but the lift shafts and staircases were a blazing inferno. All avenues to the top were effectively cut off.

The whole building rocked as a result of the shockwave from the bomb and in the security room, Han roared in anger at the devastation and static he saw through the video cameras and ran out.

"Get the combat suit ready!" Han shouted when he started to stomp out.

"Where are you going?!" Jung asked Han as he checked his duty holster to make sure his pistol was ready.

"I'm taking care of this annoying problem."

* * *

Roof/Helipad, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

The rain had made the tarmac of the rooftop a black mirror sheen (And a mild slipping hazard), reflecting the image of Jonathan and Yu as they raced to the large helicopter landing marking, carrying a thoroughly exhausted Jean. Unfortunately, the exfil helicopter that was supposed to meet them there radioed they were delayed and it would be a harrowing 5 minutes before they would arrive. Jonathan hoped so, for the pilot's sake. Jean wasn't looking too good at the moment.

The Spriggans saw that the ASPA teams were on the roof, clearing it for their chopper to arrive ASAP. As they were coming near the chopper, an ASPA assaulter rigged the rooftop door with a M67 frag grenade tied to the door handle so that it someone tried to bust through, the grenade would explode immediately.

But as fate would intervene, the floor suddenly shook with the force of an earthquake and opened beneath Yu. A massive figure in what looked like a Machine Suit emerged and grabbed him, pulling him downwards.

["YU!"]

On reflex, Jonathan fired a off a burst from his P90 LV with the ASPA assaulter using their UMP45s, but they just deflected off harmlessly his suit. With a scream, Yu and his mysterious assailant were gone. The rooftop was now deathly quiet, save for the soft whirring of the approaching exfil helicopter.

["Move out! Move out!"] Jonathan shouted to the ASPA forces as two assaulters helped Jean to stand up by placing his hands on their shoulders and move him to the approaching unmarked Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk chopper.

He was the last to board when he saw the door being busted down by a battering ram before it went down. The frag grenade exploded and took out a number of Pointmen thanks to shrapnel, which gave some of them fatal wounds.

* * *

Unknown Room, Unknown Floor, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

Yu shook his head out from the daze he was in and looked around. It looked like that _thing_ had managed to bring him down to lower levels of the building… Yu found himself in a massive empty room, covered on one side by the large glass windows of the building. He felt a presence and instinctively snapped behind.

["Awake? I was wondering if all Spriggans were as weak as this…"]

The giant was a grotesque figure, with a small helmeted head that did contrast with the rest of his portly 7-foot frame. However, it was more exoskeleton than suit. Partially derived from Fat Man's machine suit, it was more of an exoskeleton. It gave Han tremendous strength, almost 60 times, and enough protection to even stop an RPG explosion.

Han had difficulty walking and moving with such an absurd-looking on his body (His height increased by nearly two feet with the suit) but he felt that the strength and power was worthwhile. And then again, he had more than one way to contend with his enemy.

Yu spat out some blood while Han taunted him.

["I should congratulate you Spriggans! I am Choi-seow Han, Head of Security for this building. You, Ominae Yu, and your friend managed to overcome my impregnable defenses, my best troops, and even my best strategies! You are truly a worthy adversary."]

 _Glad to see I'm famous._ "Yeah right. Your troops sucked, that's all." retorted Yu, wiping off the blood from his mouth.

["Men that I knew! I led them through their training and through countless battles! They were loyal and trusting…"]

Yu just dug his ear. _Doesn't he ever stop talking…_

["AND YOU THREW THEIR LIVES AWAY AS IF THEY WERE NOTHING!"]

With a roar of anger, Han threw a punch and Yu dodged it. Han kept on coming, launching more punches and Yu, dodging them. He had to admit, that despite the bulk, Han moved fast. Activating his AM suit, he saw a hit that landed on a wall left a massive concave depression. _No points on guessing what would happen if that was me,_ he thought.

["You will pay for my humiliation!"] A surprise kick landed Yu right into the wall. ["My men will be avenged!"] Like a toy, he easily flung Yu by his arm and slammed him to the floor. Yu, stunned and coughing, was lifted up from the rubble and Han slowly began choking him. ["And for that you will now die."]

["Will you just shut up?!"] In a move reminiscent of his battle with Fat Man, Yu whipped out his custom combat knife, slicing off the arm that held him thanks to the Orihalcon blade. But instead of blood, hydraulic fluid spilled out.

 _What the? Don't tell me this guy's augmentated like what the Russians are doing!_

["Fool! Do you think you could stop me like this! I read about your exploits, Ominae Yu; this armor may be similar to Fat Man's but you will find me to be a very different opponent!"] Using his other arm, Han backhanded Yu away. But in mid-flight, Yu recovered and rebounded back, his blade ready.

["A counterattack!"]

Yu stabbed deep into his belly and drew sideways. Hydraulic fluid gushed out and Han fell backwards. But Yu saw that it was not enough; he had only broken through the exoskeleton, and with all his strength, drove the blade again deep into the wound. This time, Han screamed in pain and blood as Yu finally penetrated, dealing him a mortal wound.

["You talk too much."]

Han slowly got up, trembling. Blood flowed freely from his mouth and belly wound but he didn't care.

["What! You're not dead yet!"]

["I've survived countless combat missions and battles… A mere cut like that won't do me in- "] Another glob of blood lurched out from his mouth and spread all over his suit. Yu's savage attack disemboweled him. Only sheer will kept him alive.

["You might have won this round, but as I said I have other methods to deal with you…"] As Han talked, he pulled out a detonator switch.

["This building is wired to explode. It was meant as an emergency self-destruct measure, but…"]

* * *

Inside ASPA UH-60M Black Hawk, near Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

The Black Hawk helicopter circled the glass windows of Seoul Tower, looking out for any signs of Yu. Jonathan knew that the thing had somehow dragged Yu into the building and had ordered, upon the threat of death, the helicopter crew to search for him. However, the crew needed little motivation themselves. Yu was their friend and no one was going to get left behind.

["I see something!"] Jonathan took a seat in the chopper when he wore his headphones so that he communicate with the pilot and co-pilot.

Outside in the helicopter, Jonathan saw the detonator switch too.

 **["I need a weapon! Ominae's in trouble!"]**

One of the ASPA assaulters handed him a suppressed Knight's Armament Corp. Mark 11 Model 0 with a riflescope and a loaded 20-round magazine.

Jonathan had an ability to fire a weapon proficiently within 5 minutes of handling it and as he weighed the rifle and poured over its features, his mind computed the information he was getting.

 _Haven't seen this in a while, so it's good to see it again._

He shouldered the suppressed sniper rifle and scoped out Han when he aimed the Mk. 11 Mod. 0 at his forehead.

 _What!_ He thought as he shouldered the rifle and looked down its scope, _He's still talking! Well, good for me and bad for you…_

* * *

Unknown Room, Unknown Floor, Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

["You're crazy!"] Yu aimed his G3A4 at him as soon as he spotted the detonator, which was not damaged from the fall except with a minor scratch with the magazine.

["Crazy?"] Han sneered. ["You destroyed my military career with ease! Even 20 years of experience was not enough to kill the likes of you… Remember, Spriggan, it was you who drove me to this measure of desperation! Remember this in your next life!"]

A crack was heard from the nearby glass window. The Spriggan operator saw that Han didn't speak anymore, seeing a red dot at his forehead. The detonator held in his hand fell down.

 _That's good..._

Suddenly, Han's corpse keeled over, hitting the detonator switch.

Yu's eyes grew as big as saucers. _…you IDIOT!_

The building shook and shuddered in its death throes; windows burst and fire engulfed the levels. Explosives had been placed deliberately in critical areas of the building and now, supporting beams were knocked out one by one, and gas explosions engulfed the building. In moments, Yu and the building would be a pile of rubble in the ground, if they didn't get him out in time.

* * *

Inside ASPA UH-60M Black Hawk, near Seoul Tower, Seocho Neighborhood, Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

["Jump, Yu!"] Jonathan shouted holding his hand. But it was 20-meter jump away to the helicopter, which was maintaining the closest possible distance.

["You're nuts!"] Yu shouted at them. It was suicidal, even for an artificial muscle assisted jump. In the helicopter, the engine was drowning out all outside sound. Jonathan could only see Yu's mouth moving… ["I think he says he's going... he's going to do it!"]

By now the explosions had reached Yu's floor, and fire spread into the room. **["We need to get further away! In this range, the force of the explosion is going to get us!"]** The pilot of the Black Hawk warned.

 **["We stay until Yu jumps!"]**

 **["But then how are we going to get away?"]** the pilot asked, annoyed at the irrationality.

 **["I don't know! You're a pilot; do some of your pilot shit… or something!"]**

 _Damn you, Jonathan…_ Yu thought as another explosion brought the fire closer. The next one would be fatal. Yu braced himself, ran, and jumped. Yu half-expected to wake up in heaven, but instead his hand touched cold metal. He had made it.

 **["Let's get outta here!"** ] the pilot exclaimed, tilting the helicopter to quickly avoid the massive explosion that followed from the building. However with everyone trying to pull up Yu, the pilot's trick caused the unconscious Jean to slide out from the helicopter, who was placed on a foldable stretcher due to exhaustion.

A couple of alert ASPA assaulters held onto the stretcher and pull him back into the cabin. After the chopper was stablilized, they secured the stretcher and closed the cabin door before they started to fly out of the area before they're spotted.

* * *

Somewhere in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

* * *

On the ground, Jung-ahn and the rest of the evacuated MPA forces watched the flaming skyscraper in sorrow as the sirens of emergency vehicles filled the early morning. They knew that Han was dead. With that, they were ordered to covertly withdraw back to their secondary branch in Incheon.

And in the approaching dawn light, the ARCAM team began to make their approach to its Seoul hospital, where Jean would be left behind in order to be monitored before he could be released back to the company's Paris branch.

For now, Yu and Jonathan were ordered to relocate back to Tokyo while their South Korean colleagues would keep an eye on him.

* * *

Near outskirts of Tokai University Yoyogi Campus, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

A few days after Jonathan arrived back in Tokyo via ARCAM Airlines, followed by the usual debriefing, he was ordered to head back to TU and continue with keeping an eye on the VIP. Intelligence has informed him that so far, she wasn't in any kind of danger aside from being harassed by drunken salarymen looking to have a good time to _get back their lost youth_.

"Typical..." He muttered when he was told about it. "Now the only thing that I need to do is to..."

"HI!"

Jonathan turned around and saw Mai running towards him.

"Yeah... hi." He patted the goth girl after she gave him a brief hug.

"Where were you?!" Mai puffed her cheeks after she glared at him. "I tried to call for you for the past few days now."

"Sorry. Business stuff came up and I can't avoid it." Jonathan explained and technically, he was correct while trying to leave out his Spriggan affiliation as much as he can.

"Well..." Mai looked at him carefully before he nodded. "Okay... But you gotta tell me..."

"I'm not your brother or anything..."

"You didn't forget about the dinner appointment with Saruta-san, right?"

 _Oh yeah... That guy..._

"No... He did say to make sure that we dress decently."

"Yeah..." _Oh crap, good thing I almost didn't forget that._ "I'll go and look for clothes that don't make me stand out."

* * *

Conference Room, ARCAM Corporation Philippines Office, Makati, Philippines

* * *

Inside the conference room of ARCAM Corporation's Philippine branch, located in the downtown area of Makati City somewhere in the San Lorenzo Barangay, a secret meeting was taking place behind closed rooms after the office was about to close by 5:30 in the late afternoon.

The occupants consisted of a Caucasian woman with curled black hair and a white dress shirt and gray pantsuit, who appears to be in her late 20s. Two teenagers of East Asian origin with crew cut black hair, wearing their school uniforms from Xavier High School, were also present. The twins looked to be tired from school. One way to tell them apart is the presence of a mole somewhere on the left cheek.

They were seen talking to a Caucasian man with brown hair in his late 40s in a dark blue dress suit and a white dress shirt with a red necktie with black loafer shoes.

"Ms. Flatte." The man spoke to her. "I received a call from Mr. Yamamoto regarding the op that's taking place in Japan."

"What about it, Chairman Garcia?" The British woman asked the chairman. "Has someone happened regarding Jean?"

Garcia nodded. "I got a call from the South Korean office that he's resting in the Seoul hospital under 24/7 guard by the ASPA."

"That's good." Michael groaned when he stretched his arms. He's the one who has the mole.

Garcia took a look at the Uy twins, wondering if it was right to call them in for a future op on orders from its head office in New York.

"What's the next call, sir?" Mark asked his superior.

"For now, you two need to be on standby in case our Japanese counterparts require our support." Garcia stared at Tea. "Your superiors at the British office informed me that you'll be on loan for a bit longer, so I hope you don't mind."

Tea smirked. "No, not at all. The next flight to Japan should be in a few days, so I have the time to rest for a while."

"Sir, might I ask what kind of op are we going to go to?" Michael asked.

Garcia was quiet for a bit before he replied. "We're going up against the Moroha Group. Lately, they've been covertly taking on ARCAM security forces for some unknown reason."

"Dammit... It's not good. Some of their security forces were raised thanks to defectors from the ASPA and the Spriggans."

"Which is not good at all. Which is why I need you guys to be ready when you're on call."

"Understood."

Chapter 5 END


	6. Infodump 01: Original Characters 01

This page consists of characters who only make their debut in this fic, including me own. Included here will be notes by rx79guntank and by myself as I do the rewrite. Of course, do expect changes to the characters in this rewrite to make sense in making the story line up sensibly with manga canon. It'll also include info that made its debut from past chapters.

I'll specify my thoughts here later on.

* * *

 **Jonathan Harker**

First up, we have the main character and protagonist himself.

 **Age:** 20-21

 **Appearance:** Tall, lanky physique with jet black hair and blue eyes. Obviously a Caucasian, but with slight Asian features, his true genetic orientation is unknown. He talks in an slight neutral accent though, both in English and Japanese. Wears his old dog tags, and Casio G-shock wristwatch, model GW200TC-2V.

 **Psychological profile:** I [Rx79guntank] was inspired to write 'The Solitary Trooper' after watching the movie 'Versus' by Ryuhei Kitamura (Watch it, it's good!) and naturally Jonathan is slightly based on the film's lead character, Prisoner KSC2-303 (appearance-wise) and he also gained some inspiration from Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2, hence his history and background ideas. Jonathan does not know his true parents. He spent most of his childhood under the tutelage and employ of his mentor, the mercenary David Marcel, participating in various wars as a child soldier and receiving his education in various US army base schools. After his mysterious death, Jonathan joined the Marines, and soon after ARCAM, after being referred there by an old friend of David's. (Apparently they did a few jobs for ARCAM before)

As a result from his upbringing, he can be called socially awkward. He has little or no experience with girls and in those rare moments he does, has led him to become a feminist with an extreme dislike of violence towards women. He does not know how to use chopsticks, yet his favorite food is spam and instant ramen (which he eats with a fork) has a fear of cats and likes aquariums; among some of his idiosyncrasies.

He is not too friendly nor too antisocial and tends to distance himself from new acquaintances less they get killed (Occupational hazard) He extremely despises pretty boys.

He is described as an expert marksman and has an uncanny ability to fire a weapon proficiently within 5 minutes of handling it. He has a preference to armed rather than hand-to-hand combat and will try to use guns whenever possible. Finally, Jonathan is also known to be an expert in infiltration and exfiltration and is usually tapped by ARCAM to participate in urban warfare operations.

 **Stuff that he has:** First of all, weapons. As his forte in urban operations, he uses a variety of medium to short range weapons. He also has a few handguns with him at any given time in case for any quick skirmishes. Here's a list of weapons as of the previous chapter:

Beretta M93R Custom machine pistol. Usually located on his right side holster, this is Jonathan's primary weapon, and carries it with him wherever he goes. Fitted with a C-more red dot sight and compensator, the gun could be switched from single to 3-round burst. Other modifications include a heavier stock for better firing stability. It's currently out of service due to a lack of spare parts after it got busted.

Glock 18C machine pistol. Jonathan's secondary weapon, located on his left side holster. Fitted with a Aimtech APM-1R sight mount, Jonathan uses this whenever he needs more firepower, assassination missions or if he feels like it. It can switch between single shot, 3-round burst and full auto fire. He uses it with four 17/33-round magazines.

FN P90 LV submachine gun. He uses it as his primary submachine gun.

Originally he wore a standard-issue ARCAM Armored muscle suit, but since the last chapter switched to the more purpose built Armored Muscle jacket made by Prof. Mayzel. He carries a Strider SnG folding knife as a CQC-type weapon.

He owns a red and black CBR-1000RR motorbike but he has a driver's license as well, though mostly from California. Currently lives by himself at an apartment at Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku 3913.

 **Personal Thoughts (Ominae):** When I first dived into this profile, I realized that Owen would speak in West Midlands accent since he grew up there, which probably wouldn't work for Jonathan since in this version, it still retains the background that he moved all over, but he would have a neutral Japanese accent when speaking Japanese and a slight California accent while speaking English since he moved back to the US and got trained there when he joined the USMC. It would be clear that he spent most of his time in either country.

* * *

 **Mai Kirahime**

The main female character and the obvious love interest.

 **Age:** 18-19

 **Appearance:** Straight, long black hair with blue highlights at the end, and catlike grey eyes. Has unnaturally pale skin which contrasts with her hair. Like any teenage Japanese girl, Mai wears a lot of costume jewelry (and as of episode 4, Jonathan's pendant) and custom painted nails. Mai is a great fan of the Gothic Lolita fashion aesthetic and cosplaying and usually is seen wearing various gothic dresses to college. Among other articles of clothing she has, she usually wears knee-length boots along with her dress and sometimes various cosplay items if she is in the mood. She is considered the most fashionable of her group and is rather known (mainly to the boys and the lesbians) for her large bust size (95 cm). She is slightly shortsighted, and wears contact lenses, switching to glasses only in private. Also important to notice are two spikes of hair that stick out from both sides of her hair. They are known to rise when Mai is agitated or angry, giving an impression of her to some of a fox lady…

 **Psychological profile:** Mai's creation took quite a long time and I [rx79guntank] initially based her on a few characters like Kanako Urashima from Love Hina, Chiaki Kuriyama and Yuko Ichihara from XXXHolic. Then again, this is probably how my dream girl would be like (laughs) Mai is like and behaves like any normal teenager, and enjoys shopping and hanging out with her friends in the popular parts of Tokyo. She is a master at playing Dance Dance and Para Para Revolution.

One thing to note though is that there is a rivalry of sorts between the different fashion styles in university. And since Mai is the leader of the Gothic Lolitas, she is naturally opposes the other end of the spectrum, the Ganguro girls. As the leader, a position she gained after defeating the previous one in a physical battle, she has had her fair share of enemies, such as Hina Matsuuga.

As a result, she can be strong willed at times as a leader and like her nickname, 'Kitsune' she can be devious, wily and has a destructive temper. But under all that she has a fragile personality. Secretly she is a hopeless romantic and enjoys reading shoujo manga, constantly hoping for a day where her prince would come to take her away. And despite her image, Mai is easily hurt emotionally, a main reason why she is still unable to obtain a boyfriend until now although she very much does so. Ironically, she has quite high standards and regularly fends off aimless admirers. Her relationship with Jonathan is somewhat of an enigma though. Is she hanging around him because he's a supposed 'rich' gaijin? Or is she really interested in him? Time will tell…

Like Jonathan, Mai did not know her parents. Her early childhood began when she was left as a baby at the house of a kindly old couple in Aomori City. Childless, they took Mai in and raised her like a daughter. Mai lived happily with them, and she was known to be a precocious and curious child and an above-average student, with an interest in singing and dancing. She was even captain of the gymnastics team in her high school. However, Mai remained curious at the origins of her parents and on her 17th birthday, bid farewell to her adopted grandpa and grandma and headed to Tokyo for her future.

Initially like any other young girl, the glitz of Tokyo took her in, but she soon adjusted to life there, even managing to attend Tokai University's Yoyogi Campus to further her interest of singing and dancing. Soon, she began climbing up the college social ladder.

Mai currently lives in a one-room apartment somewhere in a verdant neighborhood in Shibuya and has a part-time job in K Florist, a flower boutique in Omotesando. She like cats and sweets and hates reptiles and oily food. Extensively brand conscious, she enjoys hanging out with her friend in places like Starbucks Coffee and upmarket cafes and shopping in branded stores. Her favorite brands are Moi-Meme-Moitie (the definitive gothic Lolita shop in Tokyo), Prada and Chanel. On the 3rd Saturday of every month, Mai usually goes cosplaying in Harajuku.

 **Stuff she has:** Surprisingly, she has a motorcycle license. Due to a mutual understanding with her landlady (Mai takes care of her children from time to time) Mai gets a special discount off her rent, leaving her enough for shopping and college fees. She likes boots and pastel-colored clothing and has almost 6-7 pairs of them in her wardrobe at any given time. She also is a nut about Hello Kitty, even down to the lingerie… As for other apparel, she just recently bought a bikini just to tease Jonathan… Could we be looking at a possible beach scene?

 **Personal Thoughts (Ominae):** I really don't have anything much to say on this one. XD

* * *

 **Saruta Moroha**

The anti-protagonist. The main baddie. The evil one. You know who he is.

 **Age:** Looks 20-ish, but real age is unknown?

 **Appearance:** He's just like any 'cool bishounen badass' like you see in games like Final Fantasy and anime like Record of Lodoss War (what was the name of that evil knight again?) Remarkably, he has sharp face with an equally sharp nose and grey eyes, framed by long white hair. A public figure, he is widely known by many fashion critics and stylists to be the perfect balance between the beauty of a man and a woman. He is impeccably dressed and is always seen in a lavender or white suit complete with white velvet gloves. He is a thought by many to be a metrosexual and his general demeanor is often likened to that of a female. Photographs and gossip magazines of him are extremely popular with girls.

 **Psychological profile:** As you can see, Saruta carries the same surname as Koichi Moroha from the first episode of the Spriggan manga (Temple of Fire in the Striker graphic novels) The notion of a suave, powerful ESPer and secret influential clans in ancient Japan interested me greatly and so I decided flesh out a little more of the background related to the Moroha family. So please don't fell strange if there's some outlandish stuff. Most of it is based on my own imagination and imaging…

The history of the Moroha family can be linked back to the Yamataikoku era of Empress Himiko, through the warring states period of Oda Nobunga and to the recent relations between the Axis powers in World War 2. Today, they are the successful and internationally renowned industrial conglomerate, with businesses in everything from shipping to trading. Their survival over the past few centuries has been a testament to the immense power this family wields.

Saruta was born into the Moroha family as a half brother to Koichi. While their father was the same, Saruta's mother was a commoner who was chosen as a result of the Moroha family's clandestine attempt at eugenics to find the strongest successor for their family. Brought up side by side with Koichi, they were taught the same powers, techniques and abilities, but they were kept away from each other. Both of them were aware of each other's presence, but had no contact with each other. In fact, they were kept apart form the rest of the family, with their only contact being with their instructors in order to maintain the competitive streak between them and to create a powerful independent psyche. Ruthless both in character and in business dealings, he is known to be devious, having a switchblade personality (charming one moment and homicidal the next) and is extremely patient, waiting for years even for his plans to come into fruition.

One of the elements in the training was also the preparation of the handling of massive Moroha family wealth. Saruta excelled, Koichi ignored it as he had more important things look up to. Later, he joined the the FSB as its main Japanese-based agent. Throughout the centuries of the Moroha's family's existence, they collected many relics and weapons of power (Hihiirokane swords, ancient texts, etc.) Koichi himself tried to dominate the world by using the knowledge of the fire orb obtained from an ancient family text, but Saruta gained an even more powerful weapon; knowledge of his lineage. And thus he set forth a motion of events that would guarantee his rise.

Over the years Saruta grew even more ambitious and powerful and this culminated into an incident where his parents died in a mysterious accident. With Koichi's death as well, Saruta was now in full control of the Moroha family resources. Combined with his high public profile and his corporate power, it seemed there was little that could stop him…

 **Stuff that he has:** For one, we do know that he has an almost unending fleet of Mercedes-Benz E-Class E 63 AMG W212s… As head of the Moroha Group he also possesses an undetermined number of henchmen (All black-suited of course) and servants. He also has immeasurable wealth, the pinnacle of it being a massive sprawling estate in the mountains of Kyoto. Multinational branches of the Moroha Group ensure that Saruta's power is far-reaching and there is little that he can't do or accomplish with his wealth. As a powerful ESPer, he has a multitude of powers; Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, mind reading, and even the infamous 'Tornado Beast'. His unnatural charm enables him to have a bevy of lovers that ready to do his bidding, but he seems to be mysteriously fixated on Mai. No one, even his closest aides know why as his motives are unclear.

 **Personal Thoughts (Ominae):** At first, I'd place him in his early 30s, given that Koichi did look like that in the manga. Also updated this so that his company is under the Moroha Group. I'm not sure if conglomerate is used in official English literature when describing the full name of Japanese companies. I could be wrong though.

* * *

 **The Shadowy Individuals**

They appeared in chapter 3, you'll be hearing from them soon…

 **Age:** ?

 **Psychological profile:** First seen hanging in the shadows during Saruta's briefing on Jonathan, the only thing known about them is their height. Ranging from a 7-foot giant to a Gollum-like dwarf, they are truly intimidating to behold. Their true faces have yet to be known, but you can be sure as hell there will be trouble with these fellows.

 **Persona Thoughts (Ominae):** Well I don't know how to tackle this, but one of them IIRC is a clear shoutout to Yomiko Readman and other paper masters in the Read or Die franchise. I'll have to get creative with the others.

* * *

 **The Sy Twins (Mark/Michael)**

 **Age:** 17 at least, similar to Yu Ominae

 **Appearance:** They're East Asian with 5'8 height, neat black hair and brown eyes. Nothing much to say. They do dress up in stolen TRIDENT Armored Machine Suits from an ARCAM op a year ago just so that it can play to their close quarters fighting style, which is to get close and use combat knives or other implements when possible. They wear balaclavas to conceal their identity. **  
**

**Psychological Profile:** I had no basis on which I created these guys. Just had the thought of creating them based on the idea that what if the same shit that made Yu to a brainwashed COSMOS child soldier happened when your parents are working overseas to make money to provide their kids and you have connections with powerful people that they can hide the truth to (intentionally) protect them from being hounded by foreign countries.

They try their best to hide their Spriggan activities by being active in school and getting good grades when they're not busy holding Spriggan ops, except for a few cases when they're sent to the provinces to deal with various groups hunting for OOPArts in the Philippine archipelago.

 **Stuff they have:** Keeping this a secret since they've used dirty tactics like their bare hands and unarmed combat.

 **Personal Thoughts:** I do plan to explore these two on how they can survive working with dual identities and of course, keeping it a major secret from their immediate family and friends as much as possible. **  
**


	7. Infodump 02: MPA Small Arms-Gear

Figured that some info on the Moroha Private Army or the MPA should be made. This chapter contains info, which is a combination of what rx79guntank did for the original story and stuff i included, some of it improved and better to make them a true opposing force to ARCAM's own forces in this story.

Do note that in this section, most of their gear would be based up to 2012, which is the basis of most of the weapons and equipment that they use in field ops.

* * *

Background:

The Moroha Private Army was mainly raised thanks to defectors from the ARCAM Special Private Army and later, the Spriggans, for the lure of better pay by representatives of the Moroha Group back in the 1990s when the Cold War had ended and many people from various militaries have been demobilized.

It consists of two units. The regular force is known officially in MG as the Light Reaction Force or Pointmen, since they're always deployed first in any operation overseen by MG companies in a black ops capacity. The elites, known officially as the Special Tactical Unit or Team Wolfpack, consist only of ex-special forces commandos from either police or military forces (Usually) with a variety of combat experience ranging from combat diving, VIP protection, counter-terrorism to classic black op works like assassination and kidnapping enemy targets.

They're armed with a variety of weapons and combat gear, compatible with most NATO standards, bought from Russia, China, Belarus, Serbia, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Brazil, Malaysia and other nations not under the Major non-NATO ally designation as of 2012 (with exceptions to those grandfathered from parts of Eastern Europe prior to joining NATO/European Union) in contrast to how the ASPA and Spriggans (most of them anyway) are armed with Western-made weapons and combat gear.

* * *

Used by the LRF:

* Weapons

\- Norinco QBZ-97A/B/QBB-97 assault rifle/carbine/light machine gun  
\- M18 carbine (Vietnamese version of the Colt CAR-15)

\- Strojnica ERO/Mini ERO (Croatian version of the IWI Mini-Uzi/Micro-Uzi)

\- Fort 500T/M shotgun

\- Changfeng CS/LM8 light machine gun

\- Yalguzag bolt-action sniper rifle

\- Ordnance Factory Board Rocket Launcher Mark-II (Indian version of the Carl Gustaf M2)

\- Fort-21.02/-21.03 pistol (Ukrainian version of the IWI Jericho 941)  
\- Izhvesk MP-443 Grach pistol with Zenitco 2KS+LCC module and B-8 mount

* Gear

\- Asian clones of Centre Europe (CE) Woodland/Urban and Daguet (Desert) BDU  
\- Brazilian Vertical Lizard (Forest/Urban) BDU  
\- Malaysian _Harimau Belang_ (Woodland)/ _Baju Celoreng Harimau Belang Gurun_ (Desert) BDU  
\- Omani DPM (Woodland/3-color desert and Urban [Black/Regular and Tan-Gray on white]) BDU  
\- Russian Reed (Zelenyi or Green/Korichrnevyi or Brown and Seryi or Gray underbrush) BDU

\- Sestan Busch BK-4 ballistic helmet

\- Fatman TB 421/422 ballistic goggles

\- NPZ Sova B night vision goggles

\- Survival Corp SAS Hook and Loop-Type Load Bearing Vest (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Flyye Industries Force Recon MOLLE Vest (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- MKU JMT XA Ballistic Vest (Colors based on BDUs)

\- Flyyee Industries SpecOps/SEALs Drop Leg Holster (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Flyyee Industries Double Mag Pouch, 9mm (Colors based on BDUs)

\- GPCOMM PTE-760D Tactical Headset  
\- Len Industri VDR-10 Manpack Radio  
\- Argut A25 Radio Extender

\- Trayal M3 respirator with pouch

\- SPLAV Storm gloves  
\- SPLAV Tac Elbow/Kneepads

\- WestWarrior JB001 Jungle/DB007 Desert/WMB006 JC and WMB007 DC combat boots

Used by the STU:

* Weapons

\- Fort-221/224 assault rifle (Ukrainian version of the IWI Tavor CTAR-21/MTAR-21)  
\- SAKO Rk 95 assault rifle (5.56 NATO version)

\- Izhmash Vityaz-SN submachine gun

\- Izhmash 18.5 KSK or Molot VPO-205-03 shotgun

\- Arsenal LMG/LMG-F light machine gun (Bulgarian version of the RPK)

\- Fort-301 sniper rifle (Ukrainian version of the IWI Galil SR-99)  
\- Tactical Systems TS.M.308/338 sniper rifle (Ukrainian version of the Brugger & Thomet APR)

\- Ordnance Factory Board Rocket Launcher Mark-III (Indian version of the Carl Gustaf M3)

\- KBP GSh-18 Tactical pistol  
\- Norinco NP44 pistol  
\- ORSIS Glock 17/34 pistol

\- Condor Spark DSK 700 taser pistol

* Gear

\- Clones of MultiCam BDU (Regular/RAID versions)  
\- Border Security Force [India]/People's Liberation Army Ground Force Type 03 Tibet Plateau Flecktarn [China] BDUs (Regular/RAID versions)  
\- Finnish M05 _Maastokuvio_ (Woodland)/M04 _Hellepuku_ (Desert)/M05 _Pakkaskuvio_ (Frost)/M05 _Lumikuvio_ (Snow) BDU (Regular/RAID versions)  
\- Guyanese Tiger Stripe BDU (Regular/RAID versions)  
\- Indonesian _Doreng Layar_ (Sailing Camo)/ _Loreng Linud_ (Airborne Camo)/KOPASKA digital (1st/2nd gen) BDUs (Regular/RAID versions)  
\- Russian Spekter-S BDU (Regular/RAID versions)

\- FORT Technology Kiver-M ballistic helmet  
\- NII Stali Altyn ballistic helmet  
\- Jiangxi Jianlei FAST High Cut/Maritime ballistic helmets (Chinese version of the Ops-Core FAST Ballistic High Cut/Maritime ballistic helmets)

\- Kisara 6B34 ballistic goggles

\- BelOMO NVG-14 night vision goggles

\- Technikom 6sh112 Load Bearing Vest (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Flyyee Industries MOLLE LT6094 Plate Carrier (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Elemental Defense Systems SAKTI Load Bearing Vest (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Temp-3000 Korsar-M3 Ballistic Vest (Colors based on BDUs)

\- Survival Corp MOLLE Belt and Universal Double Pistol Mag Pouches x2 (Colors based on BDUs)  
\- Survival Corp Delta Holster with Drop Leg Platform (Colors based on BDUs)

\- Temp-3000 BZS-75-2 Ballistic Shield with Chest Harness

\- GPCOMM PTE-790D Throat Mic  
\- Oktava SH-9 Headset  
\- Yaroslavl R-168-5UN-1E Manpack Radio  
\- Vero Global Communication VR-DB3R Radio Extender  
\- Sapura Thales ST R Mille -S Enhanced Radio (Malaysian version of the Thales ST R Mille -S)

\- PMK-3/4 respirator with pouch

\- SPLAV Storm 2/Leather fingerless gloves  
\- SPLAV Shturm Elbow/Kneepads

\- Garsing Aravi black/desert and Ultra tactical boots

Common:

\- Wuwei Type F Collapsible Baton with pouch

\- Bangladesh Ordnance Factory G3A3/4 battle rifles

\- Changfeng CS/LM4 general purpose machine gun (Chinese version of PKM GPMG)

\- RBG-6 grenade launcher (Croatian version of the Milkor MGL Mark 1)  
\- Pindad SPG-3 automatic grenade launcher (Indonesian Version of the CIS 40 AGL)

\- Pindad SPR-2 anti-material sniper rifle

\- TSNIITOCHMASH RGK-60Sz stun/RGK-60RD tear gas/RGK-60KD frag grenades  
\- Trajal BRD-M83m smoke grenade

\- Flyyee Industries Silencer Pouch (Colors based on BDUs)

\- Black BDUs

\- Balaclava (Colors based on BDUs)

\- Sapura Thales RPT 1000 Repeater Radio


	8. Down Time

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 6: Down Time

* * *

Main Dining Area, iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Would you like an aperitif, sir?"

"Wha-? Apeshit? Could you please repeat what you just said…?"

"An _aperitif_ , sir. It's a drink that you enjoy as an appetizer to your meal," sighed the neatly-dressed waiter. Despite the usual civilized high-class customers that the restaurant was meant for, there _had_ to be the occasional uncouth buffoon. _I guess there's a first time for everything..._

"Ah, right." Explanation given, Jonathan went back to reading the menu, confused at the foreign language and even more at the prices. _Dammit. I was too confident to let the waiter pick the Japanese menu when I haven't used it in a while. Probably should practice it more with the guys back at HQ here..._

Mai, seated next to Jonathan, was on the brink of strangling him… just keeping a sweet smiling face for their guests opposite them.

Saruta Moroha and Hina Matsuga. A perfect celebrity couple, she noted sourly. Mai had mixed feelings for them. She knew that this was one of Hina's attempts to humiliate her publicly, but the attraction of dining with the most eligible bachelor in Japan at one of Tokyo's most exclusive Italian restaurants almost lost her in the glitz. No, she thought, deliciously hungry bishonen boyfriend or not, she was not going to let herself get humiliated. And Jonathan was going to be her secret weapon. _Just calm down and try to enjoy dinner. After all, you don't get to go to these places often…_

"You needn't bother yourself with such trivialities, Jonathan." Saruta announced and snapped his fingers. "For I have already asked the sommelier to provide us a selection."

The waiter left, replaced by the sommelier with a bottle of wine, whispering something into Saruta's ear. He nodded, and the sommelier left.

"Eiswein," "Wine harvested from the frozen grapes of the fields of Germany, producing a highly aromatic and sweet nectar worthy of the finest of purveyors." He smiled. "You can be always assured that iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba will always take care of its guests." One could almost see the sparkle in his smile as he said that. Jonathan just felt his tired ears. _That was long…_

Seeing an opportunity, Hina glomped onto Saruta's arm, smiling devastatingly.

"As you can see, my Saru-chan has impeccable taste… What about yours?" She said, glancing towards Jonathan, aware that while Saruta was dressed up for the occasion in an elegant white 3-piece suit, Jonathan (looking clueless) was still in his normal outfit of his AM jacket, shirt and cargo pants, something that Mai was also painfully aware of as she glared at Hina, her anger rising.

"If you'll excuse us, me and Jonathan need to go to the bathroom…"

"But I don't need to go…"

"Just… COME!" Mai sheepishly smiled and left, violently pulling Jonathan along.

"It looks like young people these days don't waste any time…" Saruta observed. _And I too shouldn't as well… Enjoy your 'moments' Jonathan. Mai will soon be mine._

* * *

Female Toilet, iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"What do you think you're doing!"

"What do you think I'm doing _what_!"

The upset voice of Mai echoed out from the lady's toilet. The middle-aged couples that frequented this place and were on their way to the bathroom, decided that maybe they should come back later. iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba as the lengthy full name of the restaurant went was Odaiba's famous Italian restaurant. Owned and managed by a local chef who was trained overseas, it was a place where locals and tourists alike go to enjoy fine Italian cuisine.

"Look at you… can't you be a bit more presentable? This is an _famous_ restaurant, you know…" Mai said softly, leaning uneasingly on the black marble sink. She'd better come up with a plan soon to top Hina and worst; she didn't want Jonathan to find out about it, lest she hurt his feelings.

"Famous? Everyone looks like dead people in here… It's as if the only people that go here are walking mummies and undertakers", Jonathan winced, recalling the images of black-suited and middle-aged patrons. "Besides, who thought about coming here in the first place! Geez!"

"Well, you're supposed to be rich aren't you, Jonathan?"

Jonathan sighed in exasperation. _This is getting out of hand…_

Before we continue, it might be best if we went into the real reasons of the fights that pop up whenever Mai and Hina, no, in fact when two females encounter each other. What makes them break out in shallowness and envy and spout out such phrases like "Isn't she wearing the same thing as I am?" and "My boyfriend's a model at Calvin Klien. What does yours do?"

Many sources, including allegedly shoujo manga, have indicated this behavior is somewhat related to the female self-esteem process… Does a girl really feel better when she is proven superior to another one? It would be just simple to chalk it down to pure envy and competition but then again it'll be just one of the many mysteries of female psyche that males would never understand. In any case, the showdown here was nothing more than a battle of boyfriends; to see which one was the coolest and which one gave the most loving.

* * *

A few hours ago...

* * *

Mai had spent a few hours before the date dolling up herself to the likes which even she was amazed. A long full-body bath, followed by copious amounts of hairspray and Anna Sui perfume did the part for her body, while she rummaged through her wardrobe (in the nude; she didn't have time to put anything on) for her most elegant and fanciest outfit; a long black frill dress, complimented with a white-laced corset top and a black lace choker. Her makeup with pink glaze lipstick and a long thin bonnet completed her look.

After giving herself a twirl in front of the mirror, Mai came to the sudden realization that she looked somewhat like Suigintou from Rozen Maiden… She sighed. This was a date, not a cosplay event… And to add to the strangeness of it all, Mai found out that in her haste she was early by almost two hours; two hours of boredom. Mai gave a little scream of confusion and frustration. Why was she acting so nervous, she thought aloud.

It wasn't even a real date… Jonathan was just another guy she'd take advantage of and then dump when she'd had her fun, she kept telling herself. But the events of the past few weeks started to give her serious doubts. Playing with the necklace Jonathan bought for her, her eyes widened. _Could it be that I'm falling for him…?_

* * *

Okay... Now back to the present day. Come on, let's go. Time for plots happening!

* * *

"You just don't want to lose to her don't you?" Jonathan broke the silence in the room and his words rang in Mai's ears.

 _Come to think of it… We've been always trying to see who was better… ever since we were kids._ "She always wanted to be in the spotlight; she always wanted to take what was mine… I though, when I left Aomori it would all end. Now it's happening all over again." Mai said softly.

"So Hina is doing all this just to piss you off?"

"When I was just a child, I had no friends. I would be alone in the playground, everyday, with nobody to talk to."

Mai could remember how she first met her like it was just yesterday.

 _Why are you all alone?_

 _I-I don't have anyone to play with…_

 _Ah that's bad… Alright, you can be my friend!_

 _R-really?_

 _Yeah! We'll be bestest of friends!_

"I-I don't know what happened… As we got older, we got further apart. Some people said that it was jealousy… I don't know. She's just so nasty now… I hate her." Mai sank her head slowly into her arms. Her past, it was so vague it hurt to remember it.

"I guess that's the reason for all of this nonsense. It must have been pretty bad." Watching Mai standing there, head bowed and silent, he felt a bit disheartening. It was a total departure from the Mai that he knew. _She's just like a broken doll…_

"Well" Jonathan began loudly to get Mai's attention. "I guess I could act all dashing and high class-like," He paused. What the hell was he saying! "Well just for tonight." His face was beet red as he finished, holding out his hand to her.

Mai took it and drew herself closer with wet eyes, "Really?" and Jonathan got even redder. It was a first time a girl had been this close to him and Mai was just practically in his face.

"Well, I don't usually lie…"

"Jonathan…" Mai gazed into his eyes.

"Wait, are you going to cry?"

That killed the moment. The sudden flare in Mai's eyes made Jonathan knew he was going to regret this…

"You… idiot!"

And all of a sudden he felt he had an appendicitis coming on… Wait, that was just Mai's pinch breaking the skin…

"You're such a klutz! No wonder you're still single!"

"What! I said I'd help you, and now this is the thanks I get!" Jonathan winced back loudly, expecting another argument to ensue. But surprisingly, Mai's soft hands pulled him up.

"Since you promised, shouldn't we be going now, _Darling_?" Mai blushed.

Jonathan smiled. "I guess we shouldn't be worrying them too much…"

* * *

Main Dining Area, iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Is this the toilet Reiko? That Foie Gras is giving my stomach problems-"

As the middle-aged patron opened the door, he decided that perhaps it would be best he chose a toilet which didn't have an embarrassed, blushing couple coming out of it.

Fitting for such a restaurant, the dinner served such delicacies like veal, caviar, scallops and foie gras. Like as he promised, Jonathan acted every the part of the loving boyfriend, lavishing Mai with attention, laughing at her jokes and even tenderly feeding her in a display of affection. Saruta ignored Hina's pleas to rectify that situation, but he did notice that Mai tended to blush a little when she caught him looking at her. Good, he thought. He would make his move later.

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Yamamoto was briefed by Yu and Tea about Jean's status ever since he and Jonathan got back from Seoul. The head of ARCAM Japan's HQ sighed in relief when he found out that Jean needed some time to rest and relax before his superiors in Paris can declare him to be operationally ready.

"So it's only a matter of time before Jean's ready to kick butt." Yu grinned when he did a punching motion.

"True." Yamamoto chose to recline back in his chair. "But we still need to investigate why the Moroha head himself is so invested to secure Mai..."

"I guess we'll have to wait for word from intelligence."

"I wonder how our American friend is going in Odaiba?"

["Something the matter?"] Tea asked him.

["Nothing."] Yamamoto shook his head. ["I'm just getting a bad feeling that something's going to happen."]

* * *

Female Toilet, iNCONTRO Osteria & Grill, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Mai…"

Mai, who was washing her hands in the ladies' room jumped up a little, and was even more surprised to find Saruta looking at her from behind in the mirror.

"Saruta," she turned with a gasp.

He advanced nearer, smiling. Being caught in a place like this with an impossibly handsome man like Saruta in a place like this… She didn't know whether to scream. (Not that she was feeling unfaithful to Jonathan's promise at any way)

"I hope you enjoyed your dinner?"

"I-I did. I-It was nice…" Mai stammered, a complete reversal from what happened earlier. Saruta was just inches from her face… And slowly, he put an arm around her waist, and pulled her into a deep kiss.

 _W-what? n-no…_

Mai pulled away, shocked.

"You… Hina…"

"From the first time I saw you, Mai, you captured my heart. And I will not rest until you are mine…" Saruta said, beginning his courtship like a melodramatic J-drama. In his mind he could feel Mai slowly giving in as he gave suggestions to her mentally. Normally women would throw themselves willingly to him at his feet, but for Mai he wanted it to be different. Like many of his other conquests, he wanted to take what he wanted by slow force, utterly destroying his opponent thoroughly and ruthlessly.

"I know your deepest desires, Mai…" He caressed her chin tenderly, "Your dreams, your wants… I know that you dream of a knight in shining armor to take you away from this place, to protect you from harm…"

"Y-yes…" Mai whispered softly, trembling, her eyes gaining a blank and glazed look. Slowly, all her memories began fading away as his influence grew stronger.

"But, she…"

"Hina?" Saruta laughed. "We can forget about her. I only have eyes for you…" Suddenly at that last sentence, Mai felt her mind becoming clear. _What happened? What am I doing!_ It had been nothing but a deception, she thought, not for her, but even for Hina… and she pushed Saruta off, disgusted at what had happened.

"Why, is there anything wrong Mai?"

"Get off me." Mai was breathing rapidly, confused and angry at what had happened. Her head was feeling lightheaded and blank from the daze she came out from and she knew that Saruta was the cause of it all.

"I've already been spoken for… As I said, Jonathan's is my boyfriend." "I don't know what you're trying to do, but nothing is going to change what I feel about him."

Saruta felt his hair and smiled. "So is that the path you wish to take?" He wasn't troubled by this; as the saying went, 'the more difficult a target, the more exciting the challenge' he thought. _Eventually you would still be mine…_

"Very well then," he said, turning to leave while Mai looked defiantly at him. "If you wish to remain with that so-called boyfriend of yours, do be my guest…"

"But I'd warn you though. Jonathan is not what as he seems…"

As Saruta left, his last words echoed disturbingly in Mai's head. _Jonathan is not quite what he seems? What in the hell does he mean by that…?_

* * *

Somewhere in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"What a sleazeball! I can't believe we really went for that stupid dinner with Hina and that slimy boyfriend of his! "

"Well, at least the food there was nice…" "Besides, isn't it _you_ who wanted to go there in the first place?" Jonathan whispered sarcastically. Unfortunately, for him, Mai heard it as well and proceeded to pinch him a new one…

Jonathan and Mai walked along the night lights of Odaiba, like the many other romantic couples there (Well, actually Mai demanded that stroll. Jonathan wanted to go home)She was uneasy after Saruta's advances and said she needed a walk to calm her mind, which was the reason why they were there looking out onto Tokyo Bay, enjoying the sea air and the night scenery of Tokyo and the changing colors of the Rainbow Bridge.

"Oh, wow. They even have the Statue of Liberty here!" Jonathan exclaimed. While he marveled at the sights of Odaiba, Mai watched him carefully from the side. _Jonathan doesn't look any different…_

"Jonathan?"

"Yeah?"

Mai hesitated a little. "Where do you come from?"

That got his attention. _Not that question._ "Uh… why?"

"I dunno… It's just that I've never heard which part of America you're from…" Mai's look now took a turn for the mischievous; "So where? New York? San Francisco? LA? TELL ME!"

Jonathan groaned; not this again… He wondered if all girls acted this annoying. Jonathan wasn't in a talking mood, so he looked around for a diversion and saw it.

"Hey, didn't you always say you wanted to go to Venus Fort?" Jonathan quickly pointed to a majestic Venetian-looking entrance for a shopping center behind them. _Thank god I googled up this place before I came…_

Venus Fort was a stylish women's-only shopping centre, modeled in an 18th Venetian setting. Like it was mentioned, it was extremely popular with women and couples due to its romantic setting; a pale-blue artificial sky constantly kept the ambience of a warm late-afternoon throughout the place and the shops tailored for ladies and couples kept the mood up. As soon as Mai heard Jonathan's suggestion, she squealed with delight. She had always wanted to go there but somehow it slipped her mind. But since he mentioned it…

She grabbed his arm and dragged him in with all the strength of a rabid fangirl. At least this time he went in a bit willingly. _At least spending some money would be better than talking about 'that'…_ Jonathan reasoned.

But soon, he was starting to regret that decision. Mai for some reason _had_ to visit all the shops in Venus Fort and buy something from each one of them. And if Jonathan showed any sign of slowing down, Mai would yank him back on his feet and drag him on. Déjà vu, he thought bitterly.

* * *

It was as if it was mocking him… A colorful, conspicuous-looking vending machine with a curtain stared Jonathan in the face while he rested on a bench, nursing his aching feet.

The more he looked at it the more it became annoying.

"Puri-kura? Whatever the hell is that?"

It looked like a passport photo booth, just not as daunting. Well, anything to pass the time he thought. He put in the required currency and waited.

The long wait made his mind drift… did all girls have to be like that? You know, annoying, mood swings, the black hole of all money? How could those guys talk about how nice it is to go out on a date? It was horrible! And yet somehow deep inside he managed to find the strength to resist, as if he actually _wanted_ to! What the fuck! He was a soldier, and he fought and carried out missions by the book. Why choose now to break them?

BEEP!

A short melody announced that the machine was ready to take the photo. Jonathan followed the instructions and aligned himself with the camera target on the screen…

"Cheese!"

"Mai? What are you doing here!"

And with a flash, that moment was instantly forever captured…

"You know, it's kinda miserable to take photo stickers of only yourself…"

"Actually I was going to do that…" Jonathan answered sheepishly. Mai picked up the processed photo stickers and stifled a giggle, looking at Jonathan's surprised look captured when Mai suddenly appeared.

"You look so dumb in this! Couldn't you have smiled?"

"You frightened me! What was I supposed to do!"

"Since we were both in it…" Smiling, Mai took one and pasted it in her locket. Jonathan flushingly noticed that it was the one he bought for her… "And here's yours, you big confused baka!" she put one on Jonathan's cheek, and he blushed at the display of affection.

"I-I… Stop making fun of me!"

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

With Yu and Tea out of the office, Yamamoto was already making an international phone call to the Filipino and South Korean branches to speak to his counterparts on anything that would make or break the case regarding the Morohas and whether New York has any more information.

So far, it was a dead end.

"Dammit..." The businessman sighed after the call was finished from Seoul. He was relieved that the South Koreans are covering up their activities, mostly on the Morohas by claiming that a bombing attack was conducted by a South Korean ultranationalist group that didn't care about causing casualties after the Seoul Tower was mostly destroyed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received the report and said that they're investigating the possibility as the source of the damage done to Seoul Tower.

* * *

Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku 3913, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Lights quickly illuminated the once dark room in an apartment inside the Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku where Jonathan made his residence. The impulsively polite people at the reception and other guests hardly blinked an eye when he carried Mai through, even wishing him good evening. Now, Jonathan dumped Mai on the bed that he called his, breathing heavily with exhaustion and quickly made a beeline to the toilet where he proceeded to brush his teeth vigorously.

"Jona-chan, hurry up! hic I'm getting hot here…" A yearning, horny voice drifted out from the bedroom. Jonathan felt it would be better for him to ignore that…

Basically after Mai had finished shopping, Jonathan went to get a drink from the vending machine. What looked like an innocent can drink, coupled by Jonathan's inability to read Japanese, led to Jonathan accidentally led to Mai drink and entire can of Sake (Yes, those things exist), with disastrous results. Long story short, Mai got drunk, kissed Jonathan, vomited into his mouth, fainted, and with no choice, Jonathan brought her back to his hotel room. Besides, with her like this it would be safer there anyway.

 _I need more mouthwash…_

Cleaning up, he saw that Mai was already sleeping soundly. There was only one single bed in the room and Mai was curled up fetally on it, hugging the pillow tightly.

I guess it'll be the floor, Jonathan thought.

"Don't go…"

Surprised, Jonathan turned. Mai was talking in her sleep.

"Don't leave… I'm so lonely…" A single tear fell from her closed eyes as she murmured, stuck in some painful dream.

 _Alone, just like me…_

Thought ringing in his head, Jonathan covered a blanket over her to comfort her.

 _No family, no lover, no friends, just people that you can't trust… that's how your life goes, Jonathan._

He took a last look at Mai's angelic sleeping form and looked out to the night scenery of Tokyo outside his window. He dimmed her lights in order for her to sleep better and relaxed in the relative dark peace that the night offered.

 _I'll protect you forever, Mai. No matter the cost._

Jonathan saw that his Iphone was getting a call from Yamamoto. He immediately left the room to give Mai some space when she went to sleep.

 **"It's me..."** The Spriggan answered as he left the room. **"Yes, sir. I'm fine..."**

* * *

Blue skies and bright sunlight…

Mai woke up with a gasp.

Her head hurt as if someone hit her with a hammer on the head repeatedly. She remembered accidentally drinking Sake, then feeling giddy and happy at the same time, and now she was in this hotel room…

 _Hotel room!_

Mai panicked, her heart beating faster and faster. _The bastard! All the things he said, and did… and now this! My virginity! Noo!_

Her panic faded to relief, however as she noticed that she was still in her yesterday clothes, and even had a blanket covered around her. She breathed a sigh of relief… But where was Jonathan? She didn't see him around and there was no one night stand note, so, where could he be? To Mai's surprise, he was just sleeping soundly on the floor right next to bed. _Poor guy… was he there all night?_

Mai realized that Jonathan didn't do anything to her. He had just brought her back for the night after she had fallen drunk. It was Mai's turn to watch him now as she laid on the edge of the bed, slowly ruffling his sleeping hair and thinking about her feelings for him. Did she really like Jonathan? After a thought and a blush, she smiled and guessed she did; she really did.

 _He looks so cute when he's sleeping…_

While Mai continued to ruffle his hair, Jonathan was having a nightmare that a giant cat was repeatedly rolling him on the head with its paw…

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"How is Jean doing? Has he woken up yet?"

"We've sedated him to perform the dialysis to remove the drugs from his system; _Ironic, but better than to let him see his own blood…_ "He'll be up in a day or so." Tea reported it back after she sat down on a chair across the man's desk.

"Had a rough night?" Yamamoto noticed something on Jonathan while they sat in his office, fighting off his morning drowsiness.

"What?"

"Carpet mark."

Yamamoto motioned to the left side of Jonathan's face. There _was_ an indentation on his cheek where he made contact with the carpet the entire night.

"Uh, yeah, I had a hard fall this morning when I got out of bed…" Jonathan answered quite embarrassingly. Better not to tell them about last night.

"Hey," he swung over Yu who was also present in the room and looking at his uniform, "Aren't you supposed to be in school already? You're going to be late, _kid…_ " he said in an attempt to divert the topic. Judging from Yamamoto's laugh and Yu's scowl, it looks like it worked…

"So this is where you hang out! Cool!"

Everyone in the room stopped at the sudden high-pitched voice. To everyone's surprise and shock, Mai suddenly burst into the room and minding everything in it, touching everything and asking loudly in wonder what that did, what this did… The three men remained stunned in silence at her sudden appearance in this supposedly secure room, but their facial expressions already communicated what they were going to say.

 _How did she get here! This is a restricted area!_

 _I don't know! She must have followed me here!_

 _Followed you? Wait… If she followed you, then that means she was with you last night…_

Both Yu and Yamamoto looked at him in one of those ways when they know you did something wrong and you couldn't tell what was it.

"What? What's wrong? Well, she got drunk last night and I just brought her home… And besides, I was going to take her out to breakfast when she showed up…"

The both of them continued staring at him…

Mai suddenly popped up next to Jonathan…

"Is he your boss?" She pointed to Yamamoto. "I can see my reflection on his head!"

Jonathan quickly grabbed her and led Mai out of there. "Let's go! Don't bother him... He's doing very important work that you probably won't be able to understand yet. Besides, I think you're suppose to go and..."

After Jonathan got her out of the chairman's office, Yamamoto continued his discussion with Yu and Tea.

* * *

The journey from Tokyo to Fukuoka usually took a few boring hours of weaving through mountain roads, but with the introduction of the Shinkansen bullet train, you could be there in the same time you took to watch a movie.

Such was the convenience of modern technology…

In the famous Nozomi line that ran the gamut between these two great cities of Japan, there were two main types of bullet trains are used. One was the stylish-looking 500 series train and the other, the duck-billed 700 series, which formed the majority of the services. One such 700 series train plowed on its daily course to Fukuoka. As it was in the summer, most of these runs were filled with people seeking to escape on their holidays, and this was no exception.

It was on that day that Mai's class from Tokai University's Yoyogi Campus, decided to go on their annual class trip. The predominantly-female class filled their reserved car with laughter and chatter, but Jonathan didn't mind. Mai was up in the seat in front contributing to the noise with her friends but then, _whatever made her happy…_ Jonathan thought.

Moving away from the city… was it a good idea? The attacks had been concentrated there and going rural seemed like a good idea… Besides, Mai pestered him enough to go on to this trip anyway.

* * *

New York Bar, 52nd Floor, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"And she really did that! It's a wonder Yamamoto stayed so calm!" Tea laughed over her drink. Jonathan smiled in return over his can of coke. It was later at night after Mai's sudden intrusion in Yamamoto's office when Tea suddenly showed up at Jonathan's door inviting him for a drink. That was a surprise, he thought. A senior agent visiting him at this time of the night and yet with such a cordial invitation… Well, he didn't really know Tea a lot; just having met her in one or two occasions, so he agreed, having nothing else to do anyway.

Jonathan eyes widened in amazement when he saw the place Tea had chosen. The New York Bar, one of the Tokyo Park Hyatt's best drinking places had a nice dim lighting, lounge music, and tables that had the entire view of Tokyo from high up. Even Jonathan hadn't been in there before.

"Have a seat. The drinks are on me."

Jonathan nodded and took one by one of the window tables.

"So how is your stay here in Japan?"

Mentally, Jonathan sighed at being asked that question again, but he answered it anyway, detailing his experiences both good and bad for the past weeks. Helping him was the fact that he felt a kind of ease at around Tea, as if she was sort of a caring sister; strange but true.

Then came the bombshell.

"So do you love her?"

Jonathan nearly spit out his coke.

"W-what!"

"You heard me, Jonathan." Tea said knowingly, "With all that time between the both of you, there's bound to be something…"

"No there isn't!" Jonathan shouted back, off-guard, much to the attention of everyone else in the bar. "Bodyguards aren't supposed to get in relationships with the ones they're supposed to protect! Everyone knows that…" _Although it feels like I'm the biggest breaker of that rule…_ "Besides, it's part of my cover to get close to her to protect her. The mission parameters said that Mai is not to know of the threat towards her or…"

"But what about _her_ feelings towards you?" Tea hardly looked up from her drink of Scotch whisky. "Right now you're her pillar of strength… How would she feel if the feelings that came from the person he loved were fake? Have you ever thought about that?"

Jonathan stammered as the enormity of the situation hit him. "I-I…"

"You military people are all the same," Tea sighed. "Always focusing on 'the mission' and caring little for anything else. No wonder women hate and love you at the same time…"

This time, Tea looked at him with a slight hint of disdainment in her eyes, as she began getting annoyed at this hopeless social reject.

"Just think of what you will be doing to her, Jonathan, and I hope you'll make the right choice. By the way, you should go for that class trip. It'll take some stress off you head. Don't worry about Jean; we'll handle things here. We'll call you as soon as he wakes up." She winked.

Jonathan nodded quite cautiously in agreement. It was advice that he felt he was compelled to follow, and even stranger, was the thought that how did Tea find out about that? Mai had only told him…

* * *

"Jona-chann!"

The train of thought was broken by Mai's suddenly squeal of her pet name for Jonathan (made without his knowledge and approval) in his ear. He hoped she'd stop doing that…

Since she had nobody to show off to (and on holiday) Mai had dispensed with her familiar Goth Loli dresses for something breezier and easier to wear, namely an ubiquitous white t-shirt and shorts. She straightened the shirt over her belly and got herself comfortable in the large long-distance chair as she waited for Jonathan's response. She noticed as well that Hina didn't come along for the trip.

Could it be that she…?

"What is it? Aren't you supposed to be talking with your friends in front?" Jonathan's irritated tone at her kind of broke the expectations that Mai had.

"Jonathan!" Mai sulked, "Can't you be a bit more cheerful? We're on holiday! And if you're feeling shy, it's alright; everyone knows that you're my boyfriend anyway!" She ended with a cheerful smile.

 _Boyfriend? Using such words without telling people again…_ It seemed that these incidents were starting to happen so often that Jonathan was already getting immune to them… But once again Tea's words came painfully rebounding back once again. _So what are you going to do when the mission ends? Would you take the easy way out? Are you going to sneak away in the night? Tell her the truth? And what then, Jonathan? What would happen to the one that you have come to love?_

Jonathan tried his very best to push it out of his mind to quell his conflicting heart. _Relationships are a pain…_ Somehow, he hoped, he would find a way to end that mess.

"Want a tangerine? I just got it from the vending machine! It's cold!" Mai plopped a freshly-peeled slice right onto his hand. The sudden interruption of his thought and the simplicity of Mai's act made him smile. She was so charming… He just couldn't bring himself to hurt her like that.

"Thanks…"

"Did you just say thank you, Jonathan?"

"Uh… Yeah?" A sweatdrop fell; _She heard that? But I said it silently…_

"No…" Mai smiled. "It's just that you've always been so serious and grumpy… It's the first time I've heard you say that…" she said, blushing. "It's nice to see you happy once in a while."

And she did. She was aware that Jonathan was troubled, confused, and with secrets to hide… who didn't? She felt a lingering sense of loneliness in him that she felt in herself as well, and that brought her closer. She knew that Jonathan would not hurt or harm her… unlike others she knew. And as he had his duty to protect and defend her, Mai also felt the same way too…

It was what they called love.

"Yeah, I guess so…" A warm smile was returned.

The journey took longer than expected and most of the students fell asleep, including Mai who wrapped herself adorably around Jonathan's arm in a sleeping habit. But Jonathan let her sleep on. It was best to treasure these moments while they still lasted, he noted sadly.

Just a few weeks ago, he welcomed the end of the mission. Now he dreaded it more than life itself.

The Japanese-American examined the tourism brochure of a village that he got from a Shinkansen ticket office. It was written in Japanese, English, Korean and Mandarin Chinese. It's a good thing that he was proficient in the first two languages.

* * *

The small fishing town of Unagami was a quaint, peaceful place, rather well known for its seclusion and white sandy beaches that were one of the only few of its kind in mainland Japan. The warm sun here and vivid blue sky dotted by white cotton-clouds showed that one did not have to go all the way to Okinawa to experience heaven.

Also well known there was Miyakonoshima, a verdant, uninhabited island covered by forests, connected to Unagami by a large sandbar that could only be accessed during low tide. Old Shinto stone shrines dotted the forest in the island, where the locals from Unagami would usually go there to pay their respects to the local patron spirits; wishing for a good catch or to pray for those who died in the seas around them.

The original reason of the trip was to observe and to study the traditional stone shrine art on the island, but like all school trips this quickly degraded itself into an orgy of fun. It was not like the lecturers in charge were complaining anyway. It was rare that they got free trip to the beach. As soon as they checked into the guesthouse they bailed en-masse; the call of the sea too hard to resist. Only the blur-minded and the antisocial were left with the unenviable task of sorting out the mass of luggage left behind while the rest went out and played. Such was the life of the social outcast…

Summer at the beach was a like an annual holy event for the young males all over the world. The appearance of nubile wet young female bodies in the sun drew them to the waterfronts of the world where they paid their respects to the god of summer. In any case, it basically was just open season for males to fulfill their hormonal urgings to find the best future mothers of their children. The males in Mai's class would be happy at the fact that they were the minority and had more than enough of their choice of females to go around, but alas, but only a few of them had a real chance. One or two were the popular ones in the class, but the rest were real hopeless otakus who just enrolled in the easiest course in college to pass. The fiercely independent girls in the class didn't help too.

But even stranger was the real enigma of Jonathan. Ever since his appearance, the equilibrium of the class was shattered. The teachers loathed him for his apparent lack of respect towards them (Too lazy to greet them) and the fact that all he did during the class was sleep. The girls in class liked his mysterious air; reinforced by his constantly serious attitude, unwillingness to talk, and foreign origin, a perceived cute naiveté towards social life and cool black overcoat outfit (his AM jacket) but his connection to Mai as her boyfriend (purely speculative) kept their attentions at bay. The guys however hated every fiber of his being as they saw him as seriously unhealthy competition.

But one thing remained that made everyone scratch their heads in confusion. _Why the hell did he wear that jacket of his all the time?_ They wondered. The jacket was to be on him, everyday, 24/7, as if it was a part of his body, but they did not know that Jonathan depended on his AM jacket for his own survival.

That, combined with his looks, led to many to dismiss him off as some sort of gaijin weirdo with strange habits and bad fashion sense, which was even more reinforced on that day on the beach in Unagami. This time, Jonathan had traveled light, packing light armaments and keeping his AM jacket in his baggage to avoid being conspicuous, keeping only his Glock 18C with him instead of his usual repertoire of handguns. Still, everyone kept looking at him. While everyone enjoyed the water in their swimsuits, Jonathan remained fully clothed on the beach wearing a t-shirt and cargo pants (hardly suitable attire) and just hanging around the beach, just walking around.

 _Look all they want…_ Jonathan was instead looking around to secure the area, identifying every part of the surroundings to be able to gain the territorial advantage in case someone attacked. The mountains and forests backing Unagami from the sea made escape tough, but Jonathan reasoned that a defensive retreat to that Miyakono Island could buy enough time for ARCAM reinforcements and to ensure the safety of class. Originally, he felt that with only Mai, he could get away pretty easily, but he'd be catching hell from her if the entire class died in the process…

 _And Tea! Putting all those weird thoughts in my head! I can't even think straight anymore when I look at Mai! That's why I don't understand girls! God damn you Tea!_

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

Yamamoto noticed that Tea sneezed while Yu and the old man were still talking.

"You alright?" Yu raised an eyebrow.

Tea nodded.

* * *

Beach, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

I didn't know if god had decided to punish Jonathan for his blasphemy when that very instant a wet beach ball knocked him down in the head and into the sand…

"Stop dreaming Jona-chan!"

Jonathan grumbled and threw it back. And wiped the thin trickle of blood from his nose. The fall had bruised it, and the sight of Mai playing in the waves in the bikini she bought at Shibuya just helped the blood flow…

"D-damn, that bikini is just barely covering her breasts…"

* * *

"Having a good time, are we?" A grey-suited shadowy figure in the forest overlooking Unagami watched the events happening on the beach down below. Scanning the people on the beach with his binoculars, he zoomed on the lingering form of Jonathan with a blush on his face arguing with Mai undoubtedly about her attire… Amused, the figure watched as Jonathan promptly lost that battle of wills and subjected himself to another round of Mai's playful teasing. The figure smiled. Watching lovers always gave him warm feelings in his heart.

"Ah, the energy of youth… How I envy you, Jonathan, to be able to fall in love…" But as soon as Mai left, Jonathan spun and shot a glance at the watching figure, on his tree 500 meters away.

"Perceptive bastard…" He smiled. Jonathan was exactly the kind of opponent he was looking for… At once he snapped his fingers and immediately, masked men in combat gear joined him on the branch.

"You have Saruta-sama's orders. Let's make this a summer that our friend Jonathan would never forget…"

Chapter 6 END


	9. Down Time or not

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 7: Down Time... or not

* * *

Medical Ward, condemned ARCAM Japan Headquarters building, somewhere in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Japan

* * *

A newspaper rustled in the white, antiseptic halls of old ARCAM HQ's medical ward. A single bored orderly was on duty there in the watch station reading the day's Mainichi Daily. Apart from the headline story about the mysterious explosion of a building in Seoul, there was nothing in the papers and the ward was completely empty of patients save for that gaijin that they brought in 2 days ago. He hadn't woken up since they hooked him up to the dialysis machine.

Anyway, he thought, if he isn't going to wake up now, he might as well not wake up at all… With that conviction in mind, he put away the paper and brought out his first-generation PSP and inserted UMD disc. _Bible Black_ would be a good way to pass the time…

It was delicious. It was the sickest of fetishes that only a maniac would love. But then coming from a place where pornography featuring bestiality was a common occurrence, good taste was something that the Japanese had pushed to the absolute limits. The blonde dickgirl was about to brutally rape her moaning green-haired victim when suddenly the screen turned dark.

 _A malfunctioning product?_

"Shouldn't you be watching the patient?"

The long shadow and the sudden female voice that spoiled the masturbation moment made the orderly drop the PSP in panic. Needless to say, when delicate electronics met hard linoleum floor, the results can be shattering. Tea ignored the pitiful crying and passed straight into Jean's room; where as if on cue he woke up, pulling the blanket and needles away from his body.

"How do you feel? Sorry we had to knock you out while we cleaned you up…"

"Whatever." Jean replied irritated in the same way as a person would be if he was wrongfully woken up. The strange dreams he got in his sleep too didn't help and he rubbed his temples in an effort to get the throbbing headache away. But despite that, he was now fully healed… and ready for revenge.

"Get Yamamoto here. There's something that you should know."

Miles away in lighter moods, Jonathan was facing the decision of his life.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me…"

* * *

At some onsen somewhere in Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

As you would know by now, the multitude of cultures on earth meant that there were infinitely different ways of doing things. For example, Malaysians liked to have their baths with a ridiculously small tub of water, the Arabians with their wet towels, Russians doing it naked in the snow… And the Japanese? Let's just say they like to take a lot of hot baths.

"You must be nuts if I'm going to go in there!" Screamed a barely-naked Jonathan, just a towel covering his personal parts. It was communal bathing time at the inn's outdoor onsen, something that the class was looking very forward to. But not Jonathan.

"Look, you can boil yourself in there if you want to, not me. I'm going to find another place- preferably one with a shower." Chalk it down to personal preference, but he felt that soaking in near-boiling hot water for hours as a way of bathing was a really bad idea for a bath. Plus he was a very private person. Showering in the army was okay enough, done under the auspices of the protective towel and so, but here in Japan they went all-out nude.

The baths were basically a single large pool, separated by a bamboo fence into their respective gender sections that was just thin enough for both sides to hear and talk to each other. There would also be usually a unisex bath as well, but since the inn was a small establishment they had forgo it. Anyway, if any of those guys there with him tried anything funny, he was going to start filling lead, he reasoned.

Right now in the male side of the onsen with him were the other only 5 guys of the class. It was easy to categorize them. There was the group of 3 otakus that constantly huddled together; you could see the grease residue pooling on the water where they had their bizarre conference at the corner of the bath. Right in the polar opposite of them were the two slacker metrosexuals that were only interested in getting girls and were now trying to get a peek into the other side. Jonathan was now reaffirmed of the reason why he usually kept to himself away from these guys. "They're idiots, the lot of them…"

"It's just a hot bath, Jonathan." The slacker known as Hiroshi spoke when he noticed Jonathan still standing at the edge of the bath, half naked in the breeze. "And what's up with all those scars? Are you a yakuza or something?" Hiroshi was one of the only guys that Jonathan used to speak to, but it was mainly due to his easygoing personality.

"Occupational hazards…" Jonathan replied slightly embarrassed. Countless bullets and shrapnel wounds contributed to the numerous white scars on his body. It may have slipped his mind then, but this was one of the reasons why he didn't like to show his body off.

"If you're afraid of the temperature, man, it isn't _that_ hot. And we're going to peep through the girls' bath. Wanna come?"

Jonathan was about to leave after being reminded of that private part of him when he heard the last part of Hiroshi's invitation. _Should he?_ He hesitated. Although he felt it was very wrong, he found himself heading towards the bath, the curiosity slowly goading him like the infamous devil on the shoulder.

With slight but rapidly disappearing misgivings, he took a step forward- and slipped.

* * *

Ditto...

* * *

"What was that? Did you hear that sound?"

"It was like someone fell and shouted…"

The quiet peaceful stillness of the late afternoon was broken by that little incident and Mai grumbled, annoyed at the disturbance.

"Stop fidgeting Mai or I'll pull your hair out!"

She sighed and straightened her back to let her friend continue washing her hair. The girl's side of the bath was noticeably much cheerier and brighter, a veritable land of light compared to the dark depression that existed right behind the other side of the bamboo fence.

As mentioned before, Japanese-style bathing is quite different from that of the rest of the world. It was the procedure to wash your body to cleanse it before immersing in the bath as a final indulgence. Also with the communal spirit of the bath, the girls took their turns in helping to wash each other's bodies, especially with their delicate hair, which was a pain to clean. Whatever social inhibitions were dissolved and forgotten as the girls chattered on gossip and their childish secret loves while they bathed.

"Aah! Stop playing with my breasts!" An embarrassed voice pleaded.

"Momoka-chan! Why are you cuddling me like that…" Another one cried.

Of course in this environment, there were always the closet lesbians…

* * *

Some office with the lights off. I don't know, it's a bad guy moment. I'm sure.

* * *

Inside a dark room with the table lamp turned on, a person was seen speaking to someone over the phone. The room was locked from the inside, so no one would be able to get in.

 **"Be sure to send them in. Yes, let me know as soon as possible."**

 **"..."**

 **"I'll take care of liaising with the Americans. We can probably use their help, especially since they've tangled with ARCAM before."**

 **"..."**

 **"You'll do as I say. We need all the help we can get."**

 **"..."**

 **"For now, you just say there in Fukuoka with our unit."**

* * *

Back to a place where all those perverts would like to go to...

* * *

"You must be real lucky to get a boyfriend like that, Mai. Someone who's handsome and cares for you…"

Two naked lithe figures were at the washing faucets, one on her knees washing the other's long, black hair. She sat on a stool, bunching her long legs close to her chest, her large breasts peeking from the sides from being pressed.

"I wish Hiroshi was like that…" The girl washing Mai's hair spoke dreamily, rinsing the soap off it. Her name was Koyuki Matsuhana, one of Mai's girlfriends and famous for being the only girl in the class with a steady boyfriend. The rest of the girls in the class looked up to her for that, but having an idiot for a boyfriend, made giving out advice a little difficult.

"Yeah, but I don't know… He's kinda of a strange guy. He wears the same clothes everyday; He never laughs or smiles…" Mai counted off the excuses.

"I think I've heard of that type of person before in America. I think they are called 'Emo'…"

"No he's not!" Mai snapped in protest. "Jonathan doesn't sit around all day cutting his wrists and grumbling!

Koyuki laughed. So Mai was for real on this one. "Aha. Just joking…"

"I don't know but for some reason he's always there when I'm in trouble. It's like he's my protector of some kind…" "He just makes my heart feel warm when I'm near him…"

"Really? I think he's some cool foreign spy that's here to protect you from an unknown yet powerful enemy!"

"Will you two just stop making fun of him?" Mai screamed in anger. The latter voice that came from the opposite side of the washing faucets belonged to Noriko Ohura, the super-cheerful and annoying gossip queen of the class.

Dubiously however, she was also known to have the largest bustline of the entire class. It was hard not for Mai and Koyuki to put their blushing attention elsewhere as they hung heavily as she bent over from the other side to talk to them.

"Ah, gomen, gomen… We shouldn't be insulting Mai-sama's _consort_ , ne, Koyuki?"

Koyuki nodded in agreement. After all, this was just a sisterly jab at teasing. "Calm down Mai, we're just trying to get to know your new boyfriend more…" She stood up; wrapping her towel around herself and pulling Mai along. "C'mon, we've been washing long enough. Let's get to the bath before we end up like wrinkled old hags."

But a stray thought crossed Mai's mind. What about Jonathan? She knew this was his first time in a bath, so how was he doing? Was he talking about her like she was doing to him? Somehow Mai found that funny to imagine. Jonathan gossiping? It would be like a cow jumping over the moon or some other absurd comparison! So seriously, what _was_ he doing in there?

"Somebody get in here! Jonathan fainted!"

Mai, along with most of the other girls gave an expression of disbelief… At least her question was answered…

* * *

?

* * *

 _Am I dreaming?_

Jonathan was having that dream again.

He was in a dark battlefield filled with ruin.

The remains of bio-machines and people alike were strewn around as far as the eye could see… They had killed each other in battle. He was the lone survivor, standing in a field of death.

His armor was covered in blood, and his right arm was already gone sometime ago. He didn't know what happened and for some reason he didn't care.

A deep bitter pain ran inside himself… He had failed in his mission. Only a blood-stained necklace in his armor-gloved hand was left to remind him of the dear cost of his failure. _It's all over now…_

Streaks of lights were slowly dropping down from the dark sky. That would be the re-entry vehicles. The absolute end of everything. He hung his head, eyes closed as a lone tear of anger slid down his face at the futility of the moment.

The inevitable blinding flash came a few moments later, his frail body and obliterated in a hellish firestorm and wind…

He never had any good dreams. Death was what he dealt with everyday and as payment it was destined to follow him everywhere, even into his dreams. It wasn't a new thing, by the way. Solders or people who experienced combat usually got those dreams as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. But for Jonathan it was exceptionally bad; the best he got was a dreamless night. For that he doubly hated and enjoyed sleep; he needed the rest, yet afraid of what he would find in there.

The deep yellow evening light was filtering from the window and on his face. _Eerily in the same shade as the nuclear explosion in the dream,_ he thought. He sat up. His instincts told him that it was dangerous to be sitting in a prone position like that, but the rush of blood to his head disorientated him and he stumbled. To Jonathan's surprise, a warm arm caught him by his side.

 _"What happened to him?"_

 _"He overheated in the bath…"_

 _"Is he dead?"_

 _"That's so lame…"_

 _"What a wimp…"_

* * *

Inn room, some onsen somewhere in Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

And when Jonathan opened his eyes, he found himself back in his reality. Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief, then another one of frustration. _Not again._ It seemed that the only dreams that Jonathan got would be that of his hallowed war past or in this case, that 'same fucked-up sci-fi shit' (said in his own words). He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

 _I'm in my clothes... Shirt, jeans and socks... Must've been dressed up._

He never had any good dreams. Death was what he dealt with everyday and as payment it was destined to follow him everywhere, even into his dreams. It wasn't a new thing, by the way. Solders or people who experienced combat usually got those dreams as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. But for Jonathan it was exceptionally bad; the best he got was a dreamless night. For that he doubly hated and enjoyed sleep; he needed the rest, yet afraid of what he would find in there.

The deep yellow evening light was filtering from the window and on his face. _Eerily in the same shade as the nuclear explosion in the dream,_ he thought. He sat up. His instincts told him that it was dangerous to be sitting in a prone position like that, but the rush of blood to his head disorientated him and he stumbled. To Jonathan's surprise, a warm arm caught him by his side.

"Mai."

"They said you fainted in the bath from overheating. Yu should try to get some rest…" Mai tried to give a reassuring tone in her voice as she helped him. It was very rare that one got to hear her like that.

"Really? Did I? I can't believe that…" He grumbled in frustration. He was most definitely not going to do something like this again. And even worrying was word that he got defeated by a simple pool of hot water…

"Well so did I…" Mai added and she sat watching him, legs bunched up. "I never thought you were that weak, especially with that strong body of yours…"

Although the last part of that sentence was not for Jonathan to hear, he caught a glimpse of it anyway, and turned quizzically at Mai for some confirmation. "Did you say anything…?"

"N-no! Nothing at all!" She quickly denied, blushing. The last thing Mai wanted him to think of her at this stage was that she was a pervert…

Silence filled the room; all of the others were now hanging around outside the inn or preparing for dinner. Slowly, Mai drew closer to Jonathan. It would be good not to waste a moment like this.

"So what do you think of the trip?" she started. There was a sentence that Mai wanted to hear, something that would confirm her true feelings for him. Something that would tell her that what happened on that morning was not a figment of her imagination. Something that would show that he was not going to be another person that would hurt her. _Please just that sentence, Jonathan. Please…_

"I think it's all right. You guys look like you're having fun." With that body language, he saw, Mai was most definitely going to ask him something that he would regret.

"Didn't you go to any beaches in America, Jonathan?"

"No, I usually hung around the city."

"That's so boring… To tell the truth, this is only my second time to one… Back in Aomori, we had beaches too, but it was so cold there…"

Aomori, that's where those apples and scallops come from, don't they?

"Well, at least you know something about Japan!" Mai smiled.

"I use the Internet a lot."

In spite of Mai's spirited tone, Jonathan's answers were half-hearted and fast, as he tried to break away from the conversation. The longer he was stuck here the more nauseous he became. He knew what Mai was going to do and he was panicking, afraid to have to deal with the scenario that Tea had so objectively pointed out to him before. Needless to say, right now he feared the eventual conclusion more that death itself.

But he noticed that Mai had become silent all of a sudden…

"Jonathan…" Mai looked straight into his eyes, "I want to ask you something."

The yearning, melancholy look in her eyes and serious tone in her voice told him that this was it.

"Jonathan… Do you like me?

"Mai, I…"

Slowly, she put her arms around Jonathan's, causing him to blush fiercely in response.

"I don't know, but ever since that day when I met you I found myself attracted to you…" Although she was blushing as bad as Jonathan, she bravely forced herself to look at him as her voice trembled. "I like you Jonathan… But… I don't know if you like me too…"

"Please, tell me, Jonathan…"

He wished he could. He wished he really could. But he was just speechless. He just didn't know what to say to her… There was nothing for him to do but to just look away in indecision.

A long, painful silence followed as the both hoped each other would quickly finish this awkward moment off, but still the silence prevailed. A few moments passed before Mai spoke again. "I'm sorry…. Maybe I was a bit too hasty." She smiled, letting go of his hand. Maybe she was too abrupt. Maybe Jonathan was not ready for such a step?

She needed to get out.

"I'm going to gets some drinks… Do you want one?"

"Yeah… that'll be nice."

It might have seemed to have ended alright, but the both of them were left with unpleasant, bitter feelings in their hearts. They had hoped each other to understand how they felt, but that fell through. The only consolation Jonathan had was to berate himself mentally for his cowardice after Mai had left.

The sudden ring of his smart phone reminded him too that this day was not just yet over.

Jonathan slowly stood up from the futon and decided to walk out.

* * *

Outside Inn room, some onsen somewhere in Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

 **["Harker."]** Jonathan was quick to answer the call.

 **["It appears that your status report is overdue, Agent Harker. I presume there are no hindrances to your mission?"]**

The greasy, serpentine voice of Arliss Garrison, ARCAM USA's main rep from HQ's security department in New York, had not lost its unpleasantness, even if it was halfway around the world. Jonathan loathed him, even if he was his handler for this mission.

Although Jonathan reported to Yamamoto for the duration of being in Japan, Arliss was the head honcho for the mission itself. Rumor has it that Henry Garnum, a rising executive in New York and an expat from Britain, had used his influence to ensure that Arliss would be picked as Jonathan's handler despite his lack of experience since he was close to Garnum from when the latter joined the company.

In fact, nobody really liked him. He had a reputation for being unreasonable, straight-laced as a ruler and stubborn, the latter being his main fault and the thing that had accomplished most of his missions. Most of the other ARCAM operatives knew to stay clear of him, but as always, the fucking new guy was the one that got picked on.

Tough luck, but dealing with hard superior officers before was a fact of life.

["If there were any 'hindrances' I wouldn't be having the free time to be talking to you now, wouldn't I?"] Jonathan fought back abrasively; ["If you're talking about the mission, I'm doing just fine. I don't need anyone telling me how to do my job."]

["And don't you have anything better to do than to call me just for that? Do you know how expensive the international call rates are?"]

The truth was that Jonathan was hiding some details from his ARCAM superiors. The dates she forced upon him, what she said to him… If his superiors managed to find out what he did, they would reassign him, and he was in too deep for that to happen.

["You'd better watch your sass, boy."] Arliss spoke in his most condescending Southern tone. ["Remember, we took you in. If it weren't for that old bastard's recommendation, you'd still be stuck in a dead-end war picking worms out from your ass!"]

["Don't you dare insult him-"]

Arliss sneered. He had hit Jonathan where right where he wanted. ["Oh, I forgot, you don't like having your 'old man' insulted… Well let me tell you something, you might be all cushy and having fun with that girl over there but you'd better remember your role…"]

By now, both men were shouting futilely into their little plastic receivers. There was nothing that could be from where they were at the moment.

It was obvious now to see what ARCAM really saw Mai as. Jonathan had read the mission file on her. She was just normal girl, with normal friends and a normal life, and yet they treated her like another threat to be eliminated at whim.

It was ironic, he thought that he had agreed in the beginning, but now he was putting his career on the line to protect Mai.

["Whether or not I'm living in a lie, that's my problem, Arliss. If you're wondering if she is being a distraction; no, she's not. She's nothing, just some extra baggage I have to contend with."]

The former Marine felt the need to grab Arliss and strangle him with his own two hands. Or maybe kill him and blame his death on some criminal or terrorist.

["I will complete my mission, and not even she is going to stand in my way."] Jonathan would soon find that he would regret those words.

The cans fell with all the impact of an exploding nuclear bomb. By some cruel fate, Mai had came back early and heard everything that happened. _Everything._ Tears welled up in her jade eyes as the both of them looked at each other in disbelief.

"Mai." He turned in sudden realization.

All the happy moments and memories in her mind were now shattered. It had been a cruel illusion that Mai had endured one too many times. She had hoped so much that Jonathan was different, Love turned into hate; he never really loved her.

He was just another one of them that would throw her away after they took their advantage of her.

 _I was a fool! He was like them! They were all like that…_

Her soft face crumpled up slowly in sadness before she ran off, tears streaming down her face.

"Mai!" Jonathan took of after Mai, and the phone; the hateful piece of technology that caused this entire disaster was thrown away callously. But there was still one more piece of misfortune it had yet to wreak.

* * *

Security Department Office, ARCAM New York Headquarters, somewhere in New York City, New York, United States of America

* * *

Telephones worked both ways and that meant unfortunately Arliss had heard the little spat that had gone on. In his comfortable office, he scowled and slammed the phone down. "It seems that he's not taking his job seriously."

A Caucasian man in a brown suit, black loafers and a blue necktie looked at the window at the New York streets. "It's not that we can do anything at this point, Arliss. After all, it's in the hands of the board now."

Arliss sighed. "True, Mr. Garnum. But maybe there's some way we can make him concentrate on his mission..."

"Oh I don't know... I have a feeling that something's about to change."

The ARCAM executive smirked.

"Let's wait and watch first before we do anything."

"Understood, sir."

* * *

Outside of Inn, Somewhere in Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Jonathan ran through the crowd, shouting Mai's name. He'd thought the logical decision for her was to seek the comfort of her friends, but their bewildered response to him suggested otherwise. He ignored their asking and rifled through the crowd for her familiar raven hair… but there was no sign. And the rest of them too ignored him, thinking that he was acting weird again.

And they might as well, he thought as he sat down, away from the crowds, contemplating on his actions. "Dammit, I'm such a dickless faggot without thinking carefully."

"Don't you think it's a bit harsh calling yourself a 'Dickless faggot'?"

 _What the-?_

That was exactly what Jonathan was cursing at himself in his mind right now! And the person who's so accurately read his mind stepped forward before him.

"You're that nosy girl Noriko…"

"It's nice to see a guy that doesn't say something about my breasts the fist time I see him." She smiled. "Mind if I sit down?" She sat down next to him anyway, without waiting for his reply.

"What the hell do you want?" Jonathan grumbled hostilely in return. What did she want? The last thing he needed now as a nosy rumor-monger trying to press him for information.

Noriko sighed and pushed up her glasses in a force of habit. "You're such an idiot, Jonathan…" _Although this might be painful, it's for your own good!_

"What…?"

"You heard me! I don't know why Mai sees in you, but look at you! You're a social inept!"

The words were coming hard and fast, and Jonathan had to wince, surprised at he sudden change in tone.

"And quit that stupid grumpy look! You look like you have some attention disorder!"

"Isn't inept a bit harsh…" But his pathetic protest was drowned out…

"You're as daft as an ox! You wouldn't know if a girl was coming on you even if she was having sex with you right now! You're dumb, messy, lazy…"

"Stop it."

"Vulgar, violent, retarded, impotent…"

"JUST STOP IT!" Jonathan rose menacingly in anger of Noriko. If this was a few weeks ago, Jonathan would have not hesitated to have put a few into Noriko, but now he didn't. He wondered why. "What the hell do you want from me!"

Noriko remained defiant in front of this standoff.

"You don't understand women."

 _That was it?_ An incredulous look of utter disbelief formed, along with the customary sweatdrop of absurdity. "What…?"

"Do you know how lonely Mai was? Living all alone, string of boyfriends that used her… She would talk about you all day…" Noriko's tone and expression softened, as she recalled the happiness as seeing Mai bounce back from her sadness. She hoped those days would return, and she would dearly paid for that, except that it all rested on Jonathan now.

"She really loved you."

What was he to do now but to lay his head down in defeat…? Had he been such an asshole?

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know… What should I do now?" Jonathan asked, full of remorse. _I didn't know that I meant so much to her. If there was only some way I could fix this mess up…_

"If you want to patch things up with her, she ran off to Miyakonoshima. You'd better hurry if you want to get there before dark."

 _I was just about to ask that…_ Jonathan's head snapped towards the mass of land over the orange sky-reflecting water.

"That place!" He exclaimed. "How did she get over there? In fact, _how am I_ going to get over there? Swim?"

"There's a sandbar connecting to the island, you idiot…" she sighed, shaking her head. _You sure shatter impressions easily, Jonathan._

"Why are you doing this?"

Noriko smiled again with all the knowing of a Cheshire Cat. "A lot of us don't want to see you fail, even if you're weird." "You're the best thing that ever happened to her."

He gave a look of gratitude at Noriko's advice, and their secret declaration, but before he left he turned to her. "By the way, that thing about me insulting myself… you can read my mind, can't you?"

And for the umpteenth time that evening, she smiled again like she knew all in the world.

"I have this gift of being able to look into people's minds, just for a short while. That's how I get most of my rumors." "Of course, if you do tell anyone about this…" Now, a kitchen knife suddenly appeared in her hands, playing with it as she trailed off. Jonathan decided it was best if he just left.

 _Good luck, Jonathan._

* * *

It was dusk now, and the full ivory moon hung low over the clear blue and orange sky. It was transitional period; night hadn't fully come, and evening itself wasn't done yet. Old thoughts held that dusk was the time of the day when evil spirits began their mischief, but that wasn't stopping Jonathan from running hell-bent to Miyakonoshima.

The dark mass of the island looked like it was going to swallow him up; He didn't care, as long as he put things right. And the person responsible for this situation smiled as he watched from his vantage point in the island at the sequence of events that was happening.

His trap was set and there was no way anyone would be coming out from that night unscathed…

* * *

Chapter 7 END


	10. Secrets

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 8: Secrets

* * *

 _Why did you do it, Jonathan… Why…_

The lights from the inn down on the bay sparkled like stars against a pitch black night. Of course, that was just the effect of light over a dark backdrop. That night was clear, illuminated by a full ivory moon which cast a lilac glow over the bay, and a few wispy clouds lacing the skies. But these weren't rain clouds, but rather the result of condensation that formed over the hot seas during the day. But despite the weather, the aforementioned Cumulonimbus were gathering somewhere else over the bay.

Down on Miyakonoshima, a lone girl sat watching the revelry over on down below. She was supposed to be there, in the fun, but she wasn't in the mood right now. Tears fell, wincing as the hurtful words hit her again and again.

 _She's nothing; she's just some extra baggage I have to contend with…_

"I hate you Jonathan." "I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you…" she sobbed, her tears now sorrowful waterfalls.

"Mai!"

She gasped; _Not now!_ Why did he have to follow her? She couldn't deal with him right now, not after what just happened. And so she did like what happened to her before, time and time again. She ran away from the pain.

* * *

Somewhere in Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Jonathan to his relief found her on top of the slope… then she started running when she saw him. He expected her to do that, especially after what he did to her. He chased, fuelled by his anger towards himself, and the desire to set things right. All of his time in the jungle made him move through the path quite effortlessly, avoiding the branches and underoots before he heard Mai's scream suddenly piercing the air.

"Mai!"

As it happened, Mai tripped on one of the roots hidden in the shadows. She clutched her ankle-it hurt like hell and it was starting to turn purple…

"Are you alright?"

"It's nothing. Not like you'd care."

She responded icily, turning away from Jonathan, even if the pain was too much to bear.

"Look, I just want to have a look…"

He held out his hand to help, only to have it slapped away-hard.

"Go away! You don't care for me! No one does!" Mai screamed. "You don't love me! It's just all a lie!"

"Mai, I…"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU!"

SLAP!

In that moment of hatred it was all over. Even if it was a slap, it hurt more than a bullet wound. Everything slowed down as Jonathan turned back from the recoil of the slap with sadness in his eyes.

Conflicting emotions… what was this sickening nauseous feeling coming over him…? -It was just his first taste of heartbreak.

"I'm sorry…"

The apology didn't really matter anymore. Mai broke down crying, while Jonathan watched pensively. Just watching Mai cry like that was making his heart tear apart. _God, what am I going to do now…? I feel so helpless…_

And as if he heard him, the skies opened up pelting man and nature alike with heavy rain that just seemed to come out of nowhere, Jonathan thought. Wasn't it clear skies just now?

Mai too shrieked in sudden surprise at the rain, and at Jonathan suddenly taking her up in his arms and running off for shelter… _What was he doing…?_ For that one instant a piece of her cracked heart healed at the protectiveness, but she quietly suppressed it, torturing herself with Jonathan's hurtful words. But she still found herself giving an embarrassed blush…

* * *

Private Dining Room, Sense, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"The Leadership is demanding an explanation! What am I going to tell him!"

The companion to the panicky little man the voice belonged kept quiet, staring in blank silence across the table to the group of men slovenly drinking their soup with large slurps. Save for the long white-haired man seated in the direct opposite of the two. Instead of following the Japanese custom of properly respecting their soup, he drank elegantly from his spoon, fitting since the full flavor of shark fin soup could only be savored through a slow perusal.

The other man was not affected by the callous ignorance to him. After all, he was Klaus Manstein, a top commander of one of the world's most powerful secret societies, the Neo Nazis. And indeed as his assistant Otto reminded him, there were some issues to be taken up with his gracious elegantly-drinking host, Saruta Moroha.

"Mr. Moroha" He began, clearing his throat, "We have supported you in all our ways possible; manpower and even our new X-soldats. And yet you leave us in the dark of the current situation and progress! My superiors do not share your optimism, they demand an explanation!"

Klaus' outburst hardly even disturbed the group of men. For once, Klaus wondered whether the distance between them and Saruta's group was intentional. They were in one of the private exclusive dining halls in the Shiodome office, seated in a large round table with them at one end.

They were obviously Saruta's entourage, his assistants and but what left them? Were they purposely isolated or just a result of respectful Japanese business ethic?

In response, Saruta promptly finished off his soup, dabbing with his napkin as he spoke. "I have to request that you do try to relax, gentlemen. My plans are just now coming into fruition. All of your investments will pay off, in due time."

Of course they were nervous, Saruta smiled. To him, they were just pawns in his complex game, an ultimately ulterior motive that would be served soon in the near future. "After all, this is dinner, Herr Klaus. I've had the best Chinese chef in Tokyo cooking for us today. His ten-course dinner is exquisite."

Klaus snapped and rose up, and with his arm swept his bowl of soup and other utensils off the table with rage. He was tired with Saruta's cryptic assurances he got every time he demanded an answer. The line was to be drawn here now.

"You give assurances that the situation is going as planned but what proof do you have so! Our expensive X-soldat forces have been depleted ever since we followed your lead disaster after disaster! Men that can't be replaced so easily!"

He referred to their new anti-Spriggan troops that had been just casually slaughtered by their would-be victims during their mission to abduct Professor Mayzel. Indeed, he had protested against that mission which he had seen as unnecessary. As a result; 20 of their 60-strong force was now dead.

"I feel it is as if you are following your own objective, Mr. Moroha. If this continues, we shall have no choice but to withdraw our support." "Even you couldn't stop two of them from destroying one of your company branches…" He sneered.

The 10-course dinner was a staple in Chinese cuisine, usually served during a time of celebration. Beginning with appetizers, it worked its way up with progressively heavier dishes including shark fin soup, fish, and finally ending in a dish of rice or dessert to fill the stomach. This time, the next one to arrive was the famous Pissing Shrimp dish. The Chinese called this tangy dish so as the mantis shrimp used in it would urinate as it was being cooked.

Saruta picked up his stir-fried crustacean, studied it for a moment, and without skipping a heartbeat, ate the head whole, razor-sharp shell and all. He didn't even care when blood started trickling from his lips. Needless to say, Klaus was unnerved…

"And unlike yours, Herr Klaus, _my_ men learn from their mistakes. As we speak, my forces, and a very special agent of mine have already begun to surround Miyakonoshima where they will retrieve the next catalyst for our plans." "It won't be long before we will have what we want…"

* * *

In some forest... or two in Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

And true to Saruta's words, mysterious figures moved with inhuman mobility in the raining forest, quietly and quickly taking up their positions. They were members of Saruta's private army, his personal cadre of bodyguards, here to retrieve something that their master had desired.

But that 'something' was being heavily guarded and they had brought enough firepower to handle him; they were sure of that.

And the most dangerous of them all was the Armani-suited leader of the troops there. Standing on a branch, he took in a deep breath, despite of the rain and smiled. The conditions were right; clear moonlit sky, the target isolated, an ample force… and finally, The Island's spiritual power was at its peak.

Fitting for a necromancer like him.

"Let's go." He smiled, leaping off the branch in a superhuman jump.

* * *

Somewhere in Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

"You know, you should get those wet clothes off before you get a cold."

"…I-I'm not wearing a bra…"

"Oh."

It was by pure luck that Jonathan managed to find an abandoned shrine for them to take shelter in. Dusty but sturdy, Jonathan wondered why did such a place was forsaken in the first place. Places of worship weren't just left like that. He'd bandaged Mai's ankle with the cool rain water to help stop the swelling, but still she shot icy shards at him. Not that He was blaming her for acting like that anyway.

They had no choice but to wait out for the rain to stop in silence, sitting away from each other in a contrast of what they were a few days ago. Only the sound of the rain pattering and dripping off the roof brought a sense of normalcy in the tension that ensued.

"Mai, I didn't mean what I said."

Silence.

"There was a reason why I didn't tell you the truth…"

Cold silence.

"Would you just listen to me Mai! I'm trying to apologize!" Jonathan finally exploded.

"Why should I!" Mai turned; anger in her eyes. "You're just going to lie to me again like the rest of them…" Her cheeks were puffy and red from the crying, which only made Jonathan's desire to make up faster.

He mumbled something, looking away in hesitation before he made up the decision to say it fully… "The reason I lied was that… someone… was… trying… to… kill… you…" The last words were winced; forced out, in fact.

It was just a normal sentence, but damn, did it sound clichéd, like something you'd hear out from an action movie.

But it was the truth, and unexpectedly, Mai just stared at him in return. Jonathan wasn't sure if it was out of disbelief or wondering if he was just insane.

"I'm from this… organization, called ARCAM which is supposed to be some sort of… I don't know, they just seal off powerful old stuff away so nobody uses them for evil means." Jonathan shrugged. "They gave me a mission to protect your life against whoever is going to kill you." "I'm not even a college student."

A minute or so passed before Mai finally spoke; "You want me to believe that you're some sort of bodyguard that's supposed to protect me from being killed?"

"Yeah, that's the gist of it."

"That sounds kinda stupid…"

"Yeah, well, that's the truth." Jonathan scratched his head. "Look, the night before I showed up, there was some armed guys looking for you. I took them out of course."

"So who were they?" Mai inched closer, her curiosity overriding her anger; for the moment.

"They were identified as members of the Neo Nazi organization… That day when I left you on the bike? I was fighting them too. We don't really know their reasons for wanting you dead, but we think it's related to a larger agenda…"

"What! You don't even know why they want to kill me? What type of bodyguard are you anyway!"

"It's not a soldier's place to question his orders."

Mai could not believe what she was hearing. _That cold tone…_

"How could you say that… Don't you have anyone you care about? How could you be so cold?" _Just who are you exactly?_

Despite the few weeks, they were back to being strangers again…

"I'm nothing… just a solitary trooper fighting the battles life throws at me."

Jonathan didn't know why, but he began telling his story to an astonished Mai…

"Jonathan… you…"

He knew that he hated talking about his past, but with all the memories coming, it was hard for him to stop. If it could get Mai's trust back, so be it. And so he began to spill…

"People that I care about? I haven't heard that in a long time… I never even knew my parents. The only one that took care of me as a kid was this old mercenary, but even then he treated me more like a fellow soldier rather than a son."

Outside, the rain continued to patter off the roof heavily.

"He brought me all over the world, teaching me all that he could. Training me up to be a mercenary like him. When he died about 5 years ago, I didn't have anywhere else to go so I joined the Marines. And after I left, ARCAM approached me to join them. So yeah, you could say that I've been fighting for my entire life."

The pattering continued. The room was silent as Mai sat fixated at the story she was hearing.

"I've done so many things in those years; killing so many times…" He gazed at his hand; his instrument of destruction, and remembering the screams of the fallen… "Sometimes I want it to stop, but I can't."

He continued for a moment, before he closed his hand, and his eyes to shut it all out.

"And the dreams too. I go to sleep afraid of what I might find there…"

And in return Mai visualized Jonathan as a child soldier, killing and fighting through the ages… It was almost too much for her to bear. How could someone that young have such a hallowed past?

Revulsion turned to fascination; after all, this was what stuff dreams were made out of- handsome guy with dark past… but yet she felt, it was saddening at the same time.

"Maybe I am destined to be a soldier my entire life" He looked at her sadly. "Not that I'm complaining though." "To tell the truth, when I started this out, I was acting, but now… I guess you're the first one I've really cared about in my entire life. And I'll protect you, even if I have to die."

How lame… but Mai blushed.

And the next thing Jonathan knew, Mai had her arms around him in a loving embrace. She had been sorely mistaken.

"Uhh… Mai?"

"I-I'm cold. Hold me…" She blurted out, embarrassed… She saw through his vulnerability… Jonathan was just alone, just like her.

 _If I don't leave you forever, will you do the same for me Jonathan?_

He fidgeted under the warmth and closeness of Mai's touch, but in his heart, He felt the same thing as Mai, even if they said they denied it.

After all, that how the process of love went, wasn't it? First would be denial in a compromising situation, then a reciprocation of feelings…

"Mai…? Could you ah, get off? I'm feeling a bit stuffy in here…"

Well, maybe not.

* * *

?

* * *

The nearly naked man groaned as he splashed hot water on his back, before immersing himself into the pool of steaming water that awaited him. It wasn't boiling, but it was hot enough to make him wince, sidling up to the other Caucasian man resting in the pool, his eyes closed.

"Berlin has been informed. We will initiate the contingency plan."

"And I was just getting to enjoy it here…" the other one mumbled in regret. Good Chinese food, executive spa, female pleasure at night; their stay was like more of a businessman's holiday than the assignment to coordinate the Neo-Nazi forces along with Saruta's.

Beleaguered and failing, they had been approached by the Moroha Conglomerate to participate in Saruta's master plan. The dividends were high; if they succeeded, it would mean an unimaginable step to power over the world, with an added benefit of destroying ARCAM, the organization that dealt them the death blow years ago.

In other words, this was almost a one-way trip for them. The resources they had put in would be irrecoverable if they lost and this time they were all for the more much wary. Despite the connection the Moroha family had with the old Nazi hierarchy, contingency plans were in place in case of betrayal. And this would seem such a moment they planned for.

Otto quickly splashed the therapeutic water on his back. Better to enjoy it while it lasted. Unknown to them, someone else was watching was watching their every move, and everything Klaus and Otto said. Saruta was in his personal reflection period as well, in his own lavish bathing chamber that only the Moroha Conglomerate fortune could afford.

The setting was like it was out from Napoleon's palace and the scene from Caligula (without the horses of course). Amidst black marble and gilded French sculptures depicting various Sea Nymphs, Saruta's bath maidens soaped his muscular body while they kept his difficult long hair dry. In addition, his bath maidens were all cupped DD and above and one of them was now bent over, giving him head as if it was more of a routine rather than a frisky demand from Saruta himself.

A portable LCD screen connected to the security system already told him what his erstwhile allies were planning, and frankly he didn't care. Even if they rebelled, they couldn't possibly defeat his soldiers, more so himself.

It was this arrogance that contributed to the godlike image he cultivated amongst himself and his followers, although an outsider could easily mistake it for just sheer overconfidence. In fact, most of his staff knew that he'd possessed some supernatural power of some sort. He was their charismatic leader, promised to lead them to victory over the world.

With a final, deft flick of the bath maiden's tongue, Saruta came right into her mouth and she swallowed it all, every drop of it. With the annoying burst of pleasure that followed, He slipped off into his dreams…

* * *

Storytime fellas!

* * *

It was the year 189 CE.

The court of Yamataikoku was preparing to receive a most exalted guest, the most powerful sorcerer in the land… Asia the Invincible. The very mention of that reviled name sent enemies scurrying, and even allies shivering. One by one the armored retainers of the court bowed down in respect for Asia the Invincible, and a few could not help but feel… attracted to him.

With long flowing pearl hair, beautiful effeminate features and brilliant red robes, he strode confidently through the brilliant timber throne room before finally kneeling before her Highness, Queen Himiko herself.

Historians have always debated about the veracity of the ancient Japanese kingdom of Yamataikoku and it enigmatic ruler, the queen Himiko. Especially, since the kingdom itself was not consisting exactly of concrete evidence.

The earliest mention of Yamataikoku and Himiko itself was in the Chinese history book; Gishi-Wajin-den, which described the land of Japan (Wakoku as it was known then) being split apart by war, before uniting under the rule of Himiko. Peachy, seeing it would be consistent with Japan's violence-checkered past, but the one thing that put a wedge in this account was that no one had any proof it existed.

The location stated in the Gishi-Wajin-den itself was ambiguous. If one checked closely, the location would be right in the middle of the sea! Some debated that, according to artifacts found, that it would be located in the Yamato region, which would have led to the evolution of the present rulers.

Adding to the mix was the romantic notion of an enigmatic female ruler of the past, in contrast to the male-dominated modern rulers. An interesting prospect. The final mystery was the sudden disappearance of the kingdom, on a scale equaling the legend of Atlantis.

After the death of Himiko in CE 248, it seemed that a rival clan waged war against her court and wiped it out, establishing their rule. But how true this account is still a matter of discussion…

* * *

From her glittering dais she stood up. Himiko was renowned through the land for her incredible beauty as well as her power. Immediately one would be struck by her on first sight. Long, silky, jewel-encrusted waist-length hair, a full-and-firm body barely concealed within her semi-transparent robes… Her sharp features and piercing eyes completed the aura of awe and intimidation around her. It was no wonder that her retainers and ministers, unsurprisingly men, tended to yield to her wishes…

She stepped closer to Red Asia, and smiled knowingly at him, and he in return at her. She sensed that a great fulfillment of destiny had been achieved… Was she fated to meet him? And in her heart she knew he felt the same. It would seem that it was meant to be…

Red Asia became an advisor of sorts and eventually her consort. They fell into deep love and their relationship became thicker than steel. Their power grew stronger and her ministers became ineffective, replaced by Himiko's bedside sycophants.

For years they went on a campaign of terror, and expansion, crushing their enemies, and forming one of the strongest kingdoms in the land. Their combined magical powers ensured that they capitulated easily, or suffered a horrible defeat. Of course, all good things must come to an end. In the scant few years that followed, the few remaining free tribes rose up and defeated Himiko and Red Asia.

The legend went that after their court was overrun; they were surrounded by enemy soldiers and forced off a cliff into the sea to their deaths.

They had lived together, fought together ruled together, loved together… It was natural that they died together. As they jumped, they tearfully and bitterly promised that they would rejoin in another life…

Of course, since it was _legend_ , the story and everything in it was purely conjecture of course. Or was it?

Saruta's eyes snapped open and he brushed his white hair back, smiling. His promise would be fulfilled. Those days would return.

* * *

Somewhere in Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

"The rain's stopped."

"Huh?"

Mai looked up from her warm embrace. The noise had indeed stopped and the after-rain mist set low on the ground.

Jonathan slowly slipped Mai off him and went to look outside; all quiet except for the crickets.

He checked his watch- 9PM. They'd better be getting back before it got _too_ late.

"C'mon. Let's go." Jonathan motioned, not turning to Mai.

 _Wait you idiot. She's sprained her ankle. She can't walk._

Jonathan turned back to her-and stretched out his hand. "Come on Mai. I'll help you out." The last words came out broken.

Would she forgive him? Why do I feel my heart beating so fast when I ask her that? And what is that look on her face!

Mai shook her head and gave a naughty smile. "I want a piggyback."

Jonathan nearly face-faulted.

"You're not serious, are you?" Eventually, he just sighed and let her on. Mai's tight, warm hug as a reward.

"Let's go."

And for some reason now, he didn't really mind being pushed around by Mai, even a bit happy…

* * *

Luckily for them, the moon had come back out in full force, illuminating the forest in a pale lilac. They would have made good time getting back to the inn, except that Mai decided to start talking non-stop.

Attracted and relationship back on track, she'd take this as a perfect opportunity to get to know Jonathan better. For him, it was annoying. Especially with a question like this;

"What do you think of me, Jona-chan?"

"Uh, what?" _What kind of question is that? And great, she's calling me that name again…_

"You know, your perception; your image of me; Am I a spoiled princess? A brat? …A dream girl?" Mai slowly ended coyly…

 _Damn._ By nature Jonathan was kind of blunt, and his limited social skills combined to make him a very bad liar.

"Well I'd say brat- OW!"

A preemptive pinch from Mai.

"But honestly, you've got some type of air around you… like a queen. You may not be the part, but I sense that others want, like to be around you. You make them feel safe… bring order into their lives." "I think a lot of charisma would be the word." He rambled. _Of course, you are the boss of your own gang…_

"Really?" Mai leaned closer, almost whispering the word in his ear. That and a combination of the feeling of her breasts pressing on his back, nearly made Jonathan trip.

"Ok, my turn! You know what you remind me of?"

"Uh, no…?"

"You know that character, Athrun Zala from Gundam Seed! You're both dark, cool, cute… and strong… I just feel safe around you too."

"So now I remind you of an anime character? That's… lame." He chuckled.

"You laughed. You've never laughed before…"

Jonathan stopped dead in his tracks. That was true. Was he happy?

The forest was making him feel at ease...

Wait. No forest made him feel at ease. He'd always been wide alert in a place as dangerous as this and someone or something was making him feel the opposite, as if to dull his senses-something was very wrong.

Jonathan's breathing became ragged as he started searching, and promptly dropping Mai down in a hollow of a tree.

"Ow! What's wrong!"

"It's the enemy."

"You mean those people you said that were after me?"

"Stay here. I'll take care of them."

"Wait." Jonathan suddenly found Mai grabbing his arm, unwilling to let go.

"Be careful…" Sad, caring eyes now replaced Mai's earlier liveliness.

She truly cared for him now and now that harm was a factor, he didn't want him getting hurt.

"Don't worry." He smiled. "I'd promise I'd protect you, didn't I?"

And with that he took off.

Jonathan didn't want Mai to see him take out his Glock 18C but when he did, sneaking around the trees, it probably did him more harm than good.

Immediately, the moonlight glinted off the glass of the reflex sight, a bad mistake. Cursing, it was too late.

The teams of the MPA's Light Reaction Force, hidden in the forest, had already been alerted to their main target.

As soon as Jonathan took another step, the entire forest opened up into a white hot hell…

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"The Moroha Conglomerate."

"Are you sure? They are one of the most respected companies in the world-"

"Bullshit, Yu- you know these 'companies' usually have plans to backstab humanity in the ass- It's the law of the universe."

"Stop it, the both of you. This is important!"

Yamamoto sighed in frustration when he watched the two Spriggan agents argue. It was like something out a North American-style sitcom where some guy argues what he think is a bad idea against what the other person has mentioned.

"Jean? Please continue." Yamamoto asked the French Spriggan to continue the debriefing.

Pulling back his unruly long, blond hair, he started to explain his situation.

Yu and Tea were gathered there as well in Yamamoto's office to hear Jean's words. They would have liked to let him recuperate a little more before the debriefing, but given the circumstances that had to wait.

It was not like Jean cared anyway.

"They were responsible for the attacks on the local forward bases. They caught us totally off-guard."

For the past few months, ARCAM bases and sites all over the world were hit by concerted military attacks, causing chaos through their ranks. The attackers seemed to disappear after their deeds, making ARCAM's job even harder.

Right now, its forces were stretched thin with the equal tasks of replacing the loss of lives, safeguarding its remaining bases from further attacks and investigating into who was responsible.

"Who the hell are these guys anyway to come in and bust us up? It's not like they're a part of Trident, COSMOS or anything." Yu snorted. Obviously it was his first impression to kick the ass of whoever was threatening them.

"Wait," Tea interjected, "The name Moroha… Wasn't he the Japanese FSB agent you fought before?"

"Yeah, and he's dead-"

Yamamoto's brows furrowed in his trademark thinking pose. "The head of the Moroha Conglomerate itself is Saruta Moroha… could there be a connection?"

"Their attacks were a diversionary measure," Jean announced, getting the attention of the discussion. "At least that's what those idiots said when they tried to get me to spill. Trying to instill hopelessness and all that. So much for trying to break my spirit."

"So did you give in?"

"No, _I didn't._ " Jean scowled firmly at another of Yu's friendly, yet malicious attempt at embarrassment. Jean didn't really mind though. Like two old lovers, pissing each other off was a favorite pastime of them.

"Then how the hell did you get caught anyway? It's not like you're a

"I was tying up a lead in our Guangzhou branch when those assholes decided to invade."

The attack on ARCAM's Guangzhou base started off like any standard military attack. First, it began with a covert attack to neutralize the defense, followed by a conventional forces assault to mop up the rest.

Under the chaos that followed after the discovery of the bases' deactivated defenses, the distinctively-clad Moroha Private Army soldiers attacked. However, under the leadership of Jean they beat back the attack, in a reversal of the score that the MPA had inflicted on them since the beginning of their campaign of terror.

From what the ponytailed man slash werewolf can remember, it reminded me of some World War II-type battle.

Or was that in Korea or Vietnam? Oh well, it's not like Jean cared in classes anyway.

But the worst was yet to come…

"It wasn't too much to handle; they were your standard weak, piddling special forces types. That was, until _he_ came."

* * *

The defenders did their rightly-deserved cheering after the last MPA soldier had been shot down. Jean too gave the soldiers an approving smile. Smoke, dust and the smell of cordite hung in the air over the kill zone; the ubiquitous byproduct of a gun battle.

But not one soldier noticed a shape of a figure in the dust cloud walking alone and unafraid, to the ARCAM soldiers. Eventually, one did notice the figure's advance and together with it the strange phenomenon of the dust receding before his path…

By the time the soldier could figure out what was going on, he was dead, sliced into pieces by an unseen force. Rows and rows of the ARCAM soldiers met the same fate and soon, they were all minced, leaving Jean to face the new intruder.

"He had long white hair; he even wore a white suit. I don't know, but when I faced the guy, I just felt afraid… I hesitated." Jean shivered.

The rest did a little collective despairing.

Not many things made Jean behave like that. "It took me a while to get that crap out of my head, and when I attacked, the bastard just raised his hand. The next thing I knew, a blast of wind hit me and I was cut all over." I knew rush him

" _Strong wind… slash wounds… Weasel slash?!"_ Yu recalled.

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Are you sure? You usually don't remember anything when you've gone wolf-"

"I _do remember_ , alright!" Jean shouted, on an almost-friendly verge of beating Yu to a pulp.

"It would seem that they aiming to destabilize our defenses, or trying to distract us from another objective. One thing is for sure, they won't be attacking us again with our precautions in place."

Once again, Tea's timely observations breaking up a juvenile fight.

* * *

"You're strong; I'll compliment you on that."

Jean collapsed in a pool of blood. It took 5 Weasel Slash attacks to bring him down, and Jean smiled defiantly, even as he struggled to rise.

"You haven't seen anything yet…!" Jean spat out, blood dribbling from his lips.

 _Blood… my blood…_

The eyes widening at the sight of his crimson life-liquid, rapid breathing, increased muscle growth… One was going to see first-hand what happened if Jean saw his own blood.

"Now this _is_ interesting…" Jean's opponent commented.

Even if Jean's Lycanthrope form threatened his well-dressed opponent with bodily harm, he remained calm.

Immediately, three figures, jumped out from behind him to restrain Jean, only to have them ripped apart.

No matter though, they were just the corpses of the soldiers killed in the fighting, being reanimated by the same Armani-suited necromancer tormenting Jonathan in the present, in a combination of mystic chanting and o-fuda burning as he stood by his well-dressed master.

Angered even more by the feeble zombies, Jean continued his charge, but again was halted by another blur leaping out lightning speed, at him. The blur struck Jean once, twice, finally knocking the maddened lycanthrope down.

The blur slowed down to reveal a massive, flamboyant, muscular man… In his each hand were two Panzerfaust-3s which he wielded like clubs to strike down his enemies. Smirking at how he defeated the beast, He revealed the other purpose of his Panzerfausts, flicking a switch and launching their angular warheads and consuming Jean in an explosion.

But Jean was not dead yet. His lycanthrope healing factor made short work of his injuries, but left him severely weakened.

The well-dressed opponent knew this and called out; "Lydia…?"

Finally the range of freaks that had been brought that day was complete.

While the previous one was strange enough; a Panzerfaust-wielding musclehead bedecked all in green; German-made flecktarn camouflage pants, olive-drab PASGT Kevlar vest, and a green Mohawk to top it all.

Even different, a young girl not more than 10, clad in a bright orange jumpsuit appeared clutching an oversized teddy bear and a hardbound book; Jane Austen's Pride Prejudice. She made not a sound, as if she was gliding in smoothly like a Victorian demon-child, grotesquely adorable.

With a sickening smile, the book opened on its own accord, suspended by arcs of electricity that emanated from the child herself. Pages separated from the book; Mr. Bingely and Jane's first meeting, Mr. Wickham's lie, Mr. Darcy's confession to Elizabeth…

The very same arcs propelled the pages with enough force to impale Jean against the wall behind him.

This was too much. Blood streaming from his wounds, Jean finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

And the girl giggled. "Paper cut…"

Saruta walked over to Jean, ignoring the scorch marks, debris and blood that covered the floor.

One of the ways to get Jean back to normal was to let him wear off his bloodlust, and another, was to… well, knock him unconscious. Not the easiest way, but effective.

"Jean Jacquemonde… you've been a most unexpecting opponent…"

He turned to the green mohawk/musclehead; "Take him back. I'm sure he can be of some use to us…"

The musclehead saluted and picked Jean up.

"And now let's go pay a visit to Mai."

* * *

Yamamoto's Office, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

"Man... that's one event that I'll probably never forget... Maybe."

But what Jean was worried about now was his encounter with Saruta and his 3 mysterious enforcers. He knew that he was one of the stronger Spriggans out there, and he'd barely managed to give them a scratch.

They were truly frightening, unassuming yet powerful, and he was unsure if anyone else could be able fight them evenly. Yu and the others might have sensed it as well, and looked at each other unceasingly.

But Jean's description was valuable. They now knew the face of the enemy, and plans could be made accordingly to fight them and put them down for good. They would need all the help they could find and there was one more Spriggan right now in Japan that they could use.

"Oh yes, we may have to recall Jonathan from his current assignment. We may need his expertise."

"Yeah," Yu chimed in. "I envy him, man. He's got the cushy job… Looking after a girl, how hard can that be?" Jean too nodded in acquiesce.

Upon hearing the last part of Yu's complaint, Yamamoto swallowed.

The subject of Jonathan made him remember something that had been dogging him, but somewhat unintentionally forgotten…

"What exactly is so special about that girl anyway?" Jean asked.

It was time for Yamamoto to clear his throat. "In actuality, the case was assigned by the American head office. Even I'm not too clear on what it is…"

This time, it was Tea who snapped to attention, after maintaining her calm composure throughout the meeting. Something told her that it wasn't all it seemed.

Wasn't the mission was supposed to be the assignment of a bodyguard to Mai Shirahime to protect against an undisclosed threat from Neo Nazi organization's relic procurement division? And why are details being held back from Yamamoto?

This is all puzzling. Whoever did this did so without her knowledge.

"Tell me Yamamoto, what was in the orders you received?"

"Protect subject at all costs. Facilitate and assist Agent Harker in any means necessary."

The chairman mentioned one man in the end.

"Authorized by Arliss Garisson."

 _Damn,_ The most troublesome ARCAM official had to be involved, of course. _What the hell is he planning to do?!_

"We'll have to look for Jonathan now. He should be in Fukuoka now."

Jean and Yu looked, pained, at each other. _Why do we have to look for that slacking little shit…_ "Uh, specifically where in Fukuoka?"

"How big could Fukuoka Prefecture be?! Just go and look for him!"

* * *

Conference Room #2, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

It was dark. And cold as well. Naturally, he'd bring along an extra jacket for these types of meetings, but for some reason, he forgot today.

And now, as he sat in the semi-dark room with a few lights on, his fingers shivered ever so clammily on the formica table where a microphone perched in front of his mouth as well.

Oh, how he would give for the warm, musty sting of a cigarette now. But that would be disrespectful. _Especially in front of these people._

"Yes, we see Yamamoto. These revelations do march up with our current prognosis."

"It is regrettable that this has come to us at such a late stage; we are extremely disadvantaged for retaliation."

Disembodied voices sang in the darkness while he looked at the huge monitor in front of him. One of the corporate worlds' biggest questions was; who was really in charge of the ARCAM corporation? 'The shadiest trading corporation in the world' was the trade wind going around.

Unlike other businesses like Clovers Heavy Industry and the Takasumi Zaibatsu, which primarily did their covert work on the side, the ARCAM corporation was the opposite.

Their PR execs were just about breaking even in maintaining their cover. For such a company as enigmatic as this, there had to be a driving force behind it.

And rumors were having it that there is a higher driving force behind them, like a phantom board of directors, if you will.

In truth, nothing could be further from it.

This specialized room existed in all major branches of ARCAM to allow section heads to communicate and teleconfer with the Wiseman Committee, the mystery board of directors in charge of ARCAM proper.

Confidentiality and solitude was what this room offered.

On the stark bright dominating widescreen was thirteen black squares, each having an initial and representing an avatar of a board member proper.

The futuristic H.G.W, the deductive A.C.D, the fantasist E.R.B, the insane H.P.L, the adventurous H.R.H, the dramatic O.W, the technocratic J.V, the melancholy C.D, the whimsical O.W, the imaginative M.S, the dark B.S, the depressive E.A.P and the mysterious T.F.A…

Each represented a facet of ARCAM that could not exist without the other. The only way Yamamoto would know who's talking is if their initial was highlighted on the screen.

Under the withering light of their avatars, Yamamoto pondered, priming himself for his next, calculated response.

A.C.D's avatar glowed. "As for now, you will continue with your current assigned mission. We will analyze the situation and inform you of our response-"

"About my mission, there is something I would like to know."

"Yes, Yamamoto?" this time B.S replied cautiously, unused to receiving a critical tone.

"I would like to know, what is Agent Harker's true mission?"

Silence.

"I still remember my orders; 'Support Agent Harker's mission in any way possible' Well, I've done that," he smiled.

"But there's too much fog that came along, especially after Saruta Moroha mentioned about retrieving a certain 'Mai'… which I presume is also the very same person Agent Harker is supposed to protect. I see that why those Neo Nazis want her so much."

"Now tell me the whole story; what's really going on in here?!" Yamamoto shouted in a manner more befitting Ominae's outbursts.

ARCAM had always been transparent… Why the secrecy now?

"Yamamoto! It is not your place to-" A.C.D's avatar flashed fiercely-

"I will tell you." Unexpectedly, T.F.A's avatar interjected… The most mysterious member of the group, no one knew her face, who she was, or her real name.

Her voice was Darth Vader-esque, digitally distorted, unlike the other who employed a bassonic version of their real voices.

She rarely spoke, but when she did, it was usually of the utmost importance.

This time G.B.B jumped into the defense of the majority. "I protest! This information-"

"Yamamoto is one of our best operatives. It would be _pertinent_ for him to be privy to this information and the current state of affairs."

G.B.B remained quiet and the opposition disappeared. They all knew that the events had come to a head.

"Yamamoto, are you familiar with the theory of reincarnation?"

"The notion or belief that someone is reborn after death…" He arched an eyebrow at T.F.A's question. "Yes, I am,"

"Then what do you know about the legend of Queen Himiko?"

"The ruler of the ancient state of Yamatotaikoku… some say she existed, others say that she was just a fabled legend, _From her glittering dais she stood up, renowned through the land for her incredible beauty as well as her power. Her aura of awe and intimidation around her bewitched her people who followed her rule faithfully..._ "

Yamamoto mouthed slowly, reciting a passage from an ancient text he had once committed to memory.

"In 189 CE, Queen Himiko entered a political alliance with the powerful Chinese shaman, Red Asia, conquering nearly half of what was then in that period modern Japan. The two most powerful shamans in the world, side by side, were finally defeated by Emperor Shujin under an alliance of free tribes. However, very few texts vaguely mention that under their rule they nearly destroyed the world."

"Destroyed the world?!"

"The Fire Orb and other mystic weapons they used would geologically destabilize the Japanese Archipelago for centuries to come. They said when they were finally struck down; they resembled something different than human."

Something told Yamamoto that there was truth in this. From his experience, you don't take legends lightly her in ARCAM.

"We have tracked down their reincarnation cycles, however this time…" T.F.A paused suddenly, as if to admit a (god forbid) _mistake_ on committee's part.

"A culmination of factors has elevated this into a priority-1 situation. It seems that Saruta Moroha has been identified as Red Asia's current incarnation."

"What?!"

"Somehow he has managed to regain his memories and is actively seeking to resurrect Himiko."

"And Himiko's current incarnation is-?" Somehow Yamamoto felt he knew what the answer would be, but just an inkling of hope burned in him to salvage the madness of the revelations.

"Yes." T.F.A acknowledged. "Mai Shirahime."

"And the Neo Nazis?"

"No doubt pressed into assisting Saruta with his endeavor. The Moroha family has had a long history of association with Nazi Germany in the Second World War. It is obvious they foresaw us as a threat and tried to preemptively destabilize us. Their recent attempt at kidnapping Dr. Mayzel too was part of it."

It was all coming into place now! Beads of sweat furrowed on his head as the different pieces of information and revelations were pieced together… and answers revealed.

Why their bases were attacked, why was he given the unconditional orders to support Jonathan…?

And to compound it all, Saruta with all of his unholy resources of the Moroha Conglomerate was pushing this though with his own agenda.

"But why only send Jonathan to protect Mai?!" Yamamoto shouted, dispensing with all formalities.

"We have… underestimate Saruta Moroha's resources." O.W replied. "Currently any covert or overt operation is out of the question. We can only hope for Agent Harker to secure the target."

"We should have done that from the start! Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?!"

Mysteriously why indeed.

"Agent Harker's handler, Arliss Garrison is in charge of this mission-"

At the very mention of that name, Yamamoto's face took a shade of disgust. _Him again! That crass pompous bastard!_ This had to stop now. With or without the sanction of the Committee, he was going to set things right. Just because of the ego of one man… all this had to happen.

Was it by fate that Yamamoto kept on being assigned the youngest Spriggan agents?

Ominae, Tashiki, Jonathan, Yamamoto thought of them all as his sons.

Dealing with their destructive immaturity, watching them train, sending them off on their missions, the anxious wait and relief as they returned, and the grousing on how overworked they were… Mai had endeared herself to him the very first time they met.

Offhanded her comment on his baldness was, but it made him feel… paternal. And hell hath no fury like a father whose daughter was in trouble.

But the question was where exactly Jonathan and Mai were?

* * *

?, ARCAM Corporation Japan Office, 37th Floor, Shinjuku Park Tower, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

* * *

In another darkened room in the ARCAM building, Tea Flatte sat at her microphone, thumbing an intelligence report sent in by the enigmatic Oboro.

"There. Unagami." She tapped on the page.

"I pray we get there in time…"

* * *

Chapter 8 END


	11. Into a corner

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 9: Into a corner

* * *

Somewhere in Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

It was like that anime series, Ayashi no Ceres. Everyday normal girl thrust into world of danger she doesn't understand, rescued by heroic bishounen, etc… It was what Mai had dreamed of everyday in her mundane life, but now she was not so sure.

She still couldn't believe what Jonathan told her. However, a glimmer of truth in his eyes told her that this was real. So what if it was reality now?

People were trying to kill her… why? Jonathan had just run off; and now she heard gunshots from that direction.

Jonathan advised her to immediately use the bushes for cover before he ran off.

It now occurred to her that he could get killed fighting them… She just sat down and wished for it all to go away…

No, that would not be her. "You've been a strong girl Mai." She thought to herself. "You came by yourself to Tokyo and survived, didn't you? You can either sit down and cry or be brave…

 _That's right, I'm Mai Shirahime, the most popular girl in Tokai University's Yoyogi Campus, best DDR player and I have a super kakoii gaijin boyfriend that will kick your ass!_

 _Boyfriend._

Maybe when this is all over they could have a normal relationship-

"There she is! We've found her!" Black balaclava-masked heads peered in, pushing the foliage away, and one of them put him arm in to pull Mai out.

"Get away!" she kicked furiously, and screamed.

The MPA Light Reaction Force's Foxtrot Team was tasked with finding Mai and they were relieved to have been assigned that task. From what they heard, the other teams were being annihilated by the Spriggan they encountered. At least with their mission accomplished, they could get out of that hellhole.

They had come prepared for the op, being equipped with the Norinco QBZ-97A or B assault rifles/carbines. While in their balaclavas and in Malaysian-made _Harimau Belang_ camos while donned in Armocom 6B7-1M ballistic helmets, NPZ Sova B night vision goggles and Flyye Industries Force Recon MOLLE Vests, they appear to be a force to be reckoned with.

"C'mon, give me a hand…" The soldier grumbled as he began pulling her out, fighting and screaming.

"No! Leave me alone! Jonathan!"

And instantly, a gunshot rang out and a MPA soldier fell dead. He had arrived. Injured and blood-soaked, Jonathan glared at those who would dare hurt Mai.

He was going to kill them.

"It's the Spriggan!" They were surprised… From relief to absolute terror in an instant. Without even seeing who it was, Mai was quickly dropped back into the trunk as Team 7 faced their enemy

"You think you can take us all on Spriggan? You're injured; you don't even have your armored muscle suit!" The Foxtrot team leader sneered, feebly attempting to bolster him and his team's confidence as he shouldered his QBZ-97A.

Jonathan just glanced at his bloody arm. "Yeah, I believe I can."

That was the cue. The leader snapped. Like hell they were going to be killed so easily like their other comrades.

All hell broke loose; the team opened fire. Jonathan ran sideways, returning their hate with the purloined rifle from his hip.

From a team of eight, five remained as two fell, one whacked earlier.

Again he took cover behind one of the large trees, switched to his trusty Glock 18C and took a potshot from the side, dropping another one with a well-placed shot to the neck.

Tired of this, the leader motioned for a new tactic. With the Spriggan taking cover, they would attack from both sides in a pincer.

The rest agreed and they charged, two each on the left and right. However, one made the fatal mistake of being too eager…

As soon as the muzzle of the soldier's rifle came into view, Jonathan grabbed the rifle and threw the soldier against the tree and holding him. Everything happened fast- with the rifle under his control; he peppered the following leader dead before putting one into the trapped soldier's head.

The ones on the left broke off their charge too late to help the others, and found themselves face-to-face with Jonathan, who proceeded to drop them with a burst from his machine pistol each, the edge of his lips curled in a smile.

* * *

Skies above Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

An unmarked Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma chopper in an all-gray finish was seen flying towards the direction of Unagami from Fukuoka.

Inside were two persons, clad in leather suits similar to the Armored Muscle Suit used by some of ARCAM's Spriggan agents. Except that they were different.

"How much longer?" One of the masked persons asked the pilots as he checked on his HyperStealth Spec4ce Afghan Forest BDUs.

"Two more minutes to the rendezvous point." The co-pilot replied, keeping his concentration on piloting the chopper. "Check your gear. I don't know if ARCAM will send in more reinforcements or if they're a bit delayed."

"Understood."

["You sure we can do this?"] The other masked person as he checked and flexed his gloved hands in English, looking at the same Spec4ce Afghan Forest BDU he was also wearing. ["Been a while for us since we're in Japan."]

["I know, right?"] The masked person patted his companions. ["But relax. I know it's a long way from Manila, but we got Yu and Jean to back up with for tonight's op."]

["I guess the honchos deemed it important if we have to be here."]

"You got less than a minute!" The pilot shouted as he brought the Super Puma lower.

"Okay!"

["Get everything ready. Once we touch down... things are gonna go south. Got it?"]

["Yeah. Don't worry about me."]

["We're going to take the lead on this one. We won't get any backup immediately at least."]

The two persons wore their black Condor Defender Plate Carriers over their BDU shirts and secured the velcro straps on their shoulders and waist. Their PCs have 5.56 NATO assault rifle and pistol magazines, flashbangs and frag grenade pouches with custom knife sheaths strapped on the back. Their leg holsters were secured on their right legs.

["Phew..."] They murmured after they wore their balaclavas over their heads.

["40 seconds."] The co-pilot informed the two.

["Time to show the enemy not to mess with a Spriggan."]

One of them got a loaded ST Kinetics SAR-21 MMS bullpup with picatinny rails on the receiver and on the barrel. The other person got a loaded DGIME FX-05 Xiuhcoatl carbine with a 30-round transparent magazine similar to the one used by the G36 family in a black finish. Both of them had installed Holographic Hybrid Sight I™ EXPS3-4s with Magnifiers on the upper receivers, except for the MMS since it had a vertical foregrip attached underneath the barrel.

Once the Super Puma began to approach the outskirts of Miyakonoshima, the two masked individuals told the pilots to steady the chopper as they opened the door and landed on the island. They touched down on shallow waters from the northwest direction, the water only reaching up to the outsoles of their Malaysian Kulitkraf BRSM 9308 Heavy duty boots.

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Her butt hurt. Of course, since the soldier had practically thrown her back into the trunk.

Everything went quiet after the gunfire and shouting…

 _What happened?_

Suddenly; the sound of footsteps. Mai cringed and got ready to flail madly in case the soldiers came back…

"Are you all right?"

 _Jonathan! He's back!_ But Mai's smile evaporated when she saw he was hurt.

"You're bleeding."

"It's nothing," he reassured, sitting himself down to rest. But without a word, Mai had already begun bandaging his wounds with her torn sleeves.

"Wait, I-ah…" Jonathan wanted to interject but Mai's close proximity, plus a whiff of her hair fragrance just made him shut up, blush up and sit down.

"You shouldn't be getting yourself hurt…"

"What do you mean?" Jonathan asked.

"Y-you're going to get killed because of me…" Mai looked away in anguish. "I don't want to see you like this…"

"Oh this? That's nothing! It'll take more than a flesh wound to kill me!" He laughed feebly to get Mai's spirits back up.

"NO!"

He failed.

"I just don't want to be alone anymore… I don't want anything to happen to… you." The tears started welling up in her eyes again. She was now all-too aware of the sad fate of a soldier…

"Why can't we run away?"

Jonathan held her tightly in a reassuring embrace.

"We can't. But I'll promise you, I'll see this to the end."

* * *

At some bluff, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

"All teams… have been eliminated."

"Excellent."

"Excuse me sir?" The last remaining LRF soldier asked his commander. "This is bad. Command has directed us to call on reinforcements when possible..."

Commander of the MPA detachment brought in for the op, the Armani-suited man seemed not to care about that statement, instead played with this goatee in satisfaction.

"No matter how many die, as long as you kill him and retrieve the girl…" He recited slowly, softly.

"Isn't that right?" He suddenly snapped back to his assistant; the soldier, with an unearthly grin, as if he had just discovered the secret of the universe. The soldier just muttered in affirmation.

His name was Dorian Gray. A code-name, but his skills were unquestionable. Saruta hired this mysterious necromancer to join his personal bodyguard cadre but it appeared he had his own agenda.

"I'm not liking this at all. Fighting the Spriggan is a death trap for us. Especially considering he's a veteran on the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Of course, the reason Dorian went for this assignment was the chance to fight a Spriggan. To be able to kill one of the most powerful people on Earth…

The point where he and his assistant were waiting at now wasn't by coincidence.

The bluff they were standing on offered a great vantage point to the sea, which was crucial to the next phase of his plan. Pushing back his straight center-parted hair, he approached the moss and lichen-encrusted ancient wall behind them and studied it intently.

His assistant followed, curious to see what he was doing… when without warning, Dorian whipped back and threw him against the wall, slitting his throat in the process.

"Every good cast needs a sacrifice." He remarked, shaking the blood off his tanto that he used to do the deed.

In actuality, hiding behind decades of foliage in the wall was a small shrine, dedicated to the appeasement of the spirits of the people who died in the surrounding waters.

Slowly the blood from the slumped corpse of the assistant began seeping into the shrine.

The LRF soldier gasped while he tried to cover the open wound on his throat. But it was too late. He was slowly drowning with the blood heading for his own throat.

Dorian clasped his hands together in a cryptic signal and began chanting…

 _Spirits of the dead,_

 _Begrudged of the deep,_

 _Hear the call of your Master,_

 _Appear!_

Dorian briefly glowed, channeling all of his energy into the chant, and strangely, everything was still and quiet. But slowly, dark, wretched figures began rising out of the water and on to shore… Seemingly from all sides as they made their way towards the island.

"And now the real fun begins!"

The necromancer heard the blades of the Super Puma for a few seconds, though he couldn't see where it was since the pilots had turned off all working strobe lights in order to reduce the chances of being visually detected.

"Come! Rejoice!"

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Jonathan took a few minutes to analyze the situation ever since he arrived at Miyakonoshima after he crossed it from the southern direction thanks to the sandbar.

 _I need to see if the shoal's still visible._ The Marine veteran peeked from behind a tree trunk to see that that the sandbar is a bit visible, although it doesn't help that it was getting dark. He also listened in on the MPA's comms after he nicked an Argut A25 radio extender with a GPCOMM PTE-760D headset from a dead LRF soldier.

 **"All LRF units not deployed to the island are ordered to be on standby. I repeat, all LRF units not deployed to the island are to be on immediate standby on orders from Grey. How copy, over?"**

He was baffled when he heard that MPA forces were not being sent to the island after a few assault teams were killed and picked off. He wondered what it was about.

 _What the hell's happening?_

Jonathan conducted a brass check on his QBZ-97B carbine after securing around four 30-round 5.56 NATO assault rifle magazines, which he also seized from the same soldier killed previously.

"What's happening..." Mai asked Jonathan, who was standing behind him.

"Stay back. It's not safe."

Jonathan pushed Mai a bit back when he realized the reason why the LRF was not sending in any more manpower to secure the island.

 _Aw... Fuck. Zombies?_

Jonathan aimed the carbine's iron sights and aimed the barrel at the nearest zombie, who had a black windbreaker, jeans and a toque. The clothes were mostly wet and slightly decomposed.

"So that chanting I just head... Called on these freaks?" The veteran didn't believe that for the first time in his time, he was about to face off against something inhuman aside from fighting any ordinary humans.

He continued to listen in on the radio transmissions while figuring out a way to either sneak past the zombies or fight them without attracting too much attention.

Or worse, more trouble for him (and maybe Mai to handle).

"Now I'm wishing that I could've grabbed a suppressor."

* * *

The two masked Spriggans immediately made a beeline for the nearest trees after the Super Puma landed a bit close for them to safely jump without getting hurt. As they were about to enter the forests, they turned around to see what was happening after they heard some noises coming from the sea.

["Oh shit."]

["Mark, come on."]

They immediately took to the trees as cover and crouched to keep a low profile.

["Hey Michael, can you see something?"]

["Hang on. I'll go check and see."]

Michael took a peek from behind a tree trunk, adjusting the balaclava to make sure that he can still see. From his position, the Filipino Spriggan can see somebody just walk out of the water.

["Somebody just walked up to land, straight from the water, bro."]

Mark conducted a brass check on his FX-05 carbine when he inserted a suppressor over its barrel. ["What about it?"]

["Person appears to be dead for a while now. Her clothes appear to be decomposed too."] Michael reported his findings when he also placed a suppressor over the SAR 21 MMS' barrel.

["More of them coming out of the water?"]

["Yeah. Looks like someone summoned them with dark magic or with an artifact. We need to move."]

["Agreed. Let's stick to the knives and close quarters training."]

["Right. Let's also be careful on not being bit too."]

The brothers immediately moved inland, using the forests to avoid being seen.

* * *

Inside ARCAM Bombardier Challenger 300, en route to Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

The ARCAM-owned Bombardier Challenger 300 was now flying towards Fukuoka, a few hours after it took off from Narita International Airport. It just happens to be convenient that at least one of the Challenger 300s being used by the company was made available, fresh from monthly repairs and maintenance.

Inside the business jet were Yu and Jean, preparing their weapons and gear. Now they weren't sure if the plane can just fly over the said area and just have them open the door so that the two can just jump and drop in to help Jonathan.

The plan made by the security department was that transport would wait for them outside the domestic terminal, followed by driving to Itoshima.

"Hey! You guys made any consideration to my plans yet?" Yu asked the pilots when he got to the cockpit.

"No, no and no." The pilot said no many times when he heard the question, seemingly for the nth time. "It's too dangerous and you're too reckless that I'm not confident that the plan can work. Head back to your seat."

The older Spriggan sighed and wondered if Yu can just be patient and wait until their jet was approaching Fukuoka prefectural airspace to plan their next move.

Although he did wonder why Tea didn't bother to show up. Usually, she didn't have any hesitations to join a mission when the situation needs backup.

 _Why didn't she come along with us on this mission?_

Yu eventually took his seat again after being reminded to cool down on being hot-blooded or the pilots will deny him a ride again on an ARCAM-chartered plane ride.

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Jonathan held Mai, his left hand placed on her right wrist, as they traveled through the forest of Miyakonoshima, keeping their hands down. She was advised that he caught sight of zombies that came out of the water, which meant that the sandbar route back to Unagami was too dangerous for the two of them to use.

"So what do we do?" Mai asked, fearing the worst of being eaten alive by a zombie, thanks to being invited out by some of her classmates on one occasion to watch a zombie movie in Shibuya once.

"I can't use the gun I got." Jonathan reminded her as he led her deep into the forest. "The noise will attract the attention of the others. And no doubt, the enemy who's looking for us."

Mai didn't say anything, but looked worried. Jonathan could tell by the look on her face.

"I'll have to get up close and hope for the best that I don't get bit or something."

He was frustrated. Even more so when he heard the sound of a helicopter that flew over the island since the trees obscured the view of the sky from the ground. This meant that he doesn't know if the new arrivals are allies or enemies.

 _We need to move. Those zombie-like things are still out there._

Jonathan and Mai made an effort to brush their bodies through the bushes as much as possible. If they had to, they walked through them slowly to avoid making too much of a commotion.

"I hate this when all I have is my Glock 18C and this Chinese-made bullpup." Jonathan grumbled to himself. He motioned to Mai to stay put and stay low while he leaned up against a tree trunk. He peeked on the corner and saw a couple of masked men armed with weapons that weren't based on the QBZ-97s.

What he saw was even amazing, even for his own eyes based on his own experience.

Jonathan noticed that the masked men were fending off the zombies trying to latch onto them with one of them trying to take a bite on a gloved hand.

* * *

["What's the matter?"] Mark taunted the zombie after it sank its teeth on his right hand. Another zombie struggled to get a hold of his feet.

Michael was busy on his own end when the Filipino Spriggan was confronted by a few zombies. He counted around three that were trying to advance towards him.

But when they were able to shoot them with their assault rifles, they decided to draw out their combat knives to make less noise.

Mark was seen holding his Extrema Ratio Glauca B1 folding combat knife in a reverse grip. He made a fist with his right hand and smacked the zombie away from his Orihalcon-made glove.

["Man, that hurts."] Mark sighed as if the zombie just scratched his hand. He grabbed it by the the head with his left hand and smashed the head to the nearest tree trunk. He then kicked the zombie away from his feet and stomped on it. Mark shoved the B1's Orihalcon-made blade into its skull.

["Good to see you're holding your ground, bro."] Michael was quick to get a Carl Schlieper Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife from his sheath. He took on the offensive when he shoved the FS' blade onto the first zombie's face through the right eye socket. He brought the blade out and stabbed it again on the left temple.

When the zombie dropped dead, the other two kept their advance towards him.

["Oh boy..."] Michael moved his head left and right to stretch his neck before he charged again. He made a short run and made a thrust stab on the second zombie on the throat. When it fell down, Michael jumped and used both of his boot-clad feet to squish its head.

As for the third zombie... Well, it tried to make a grab for his shoulders in order to grip him and make him easy prey. The zombie was about to get in up close and personal by slightly moving downward. The FS knife's Orihalcon blade went straight for the head from underneath the chin.

["Take a bite out of that one, why don't ya?"] Michael shoved the blade even further to the zombie's skull from the chin. After a while, the zombie went limp and its arms went down.

["Here. Let me."] Mark sighed and shoved the zombie out of the way. He used his B1 to finish the zombie (at least to make it was dead for good) by stabbing the head multiple times.

["Whew..."] Michael used the clothes from the dead zombies to clean the blood of his FS. Mark did the same thing with his B1.

["I don't think they're the only ones that are roaming around the island."] Mark told his brother. ["We need to make contact with the guy and the girl and try to fight our way out of this place before those zombies can be set loose further to the mainland."]

["Problem is that these zombies didn't rise up due to a virus or from some kind of act of some almighty being."] Michael replied when he crouched to check the corpses on how far is the decay on their bodies. ["It's most likely that we got ourselves a necromancer and he's hanging back somewhere and we need to find him. I wish we can hear news from Ominae and the others if they're coming."]

["Maybe I can help with that part..."]

Jonathan stepped out of the bushes, putting his hands up to show that he has no weapons and he doesn't have the intention of fighting them.

* * *

Dorian used a pair of binoculars to spot his adversaries if they tried to slip out of the island.

"Where are you...?" Dorian murmured when he peered through the lenses. "Ah... let's see what we have here."

The necromancer swore that he saw the party trying to move through the forests to head to the direction of Unagami. He saw that the zombies coming from that direction were moving towards them and were not heading to the mainland.

"Perfect..." Dorian grinned. "Now it's my chance to box them in a corner and have my chance of killing a Spriggan under my belt."

The man took hold of the scabbard placed on his belt and drew out a dagger.

What made this... different... is that it has the insignia of a skull on the grip below the crossguard, the former having a S-shaped design.

"Now I hunt." Dorian casually walked towards the forest with a smirk on his face.

Chapter 9 END

* * *

PS - Oh yeah. Fukuoka being referred to in this chapter is Fukuoka City in itself. Hopefully I don't get anyone confused on this.

One more thing, _Dirección General de Industria Militar del Ejército_ (DGIME) means General Directorate of Military Industry of the Army. Basically, it's the Mexican government's department responsible for planning/brainstorming Mexico's indigenous production of stuff for the Mexican military to reduce dependence on buying from overseas.

So a lot of things happened, especially finding full-time work with pay and having to cope with being an intern with a humanitarian NGO in the Philippines, although it's giving me relatable work experience and doing a pol sci-related blog just to discuss issues in the Asia-Pacific (and putting some posts on Linkedin) to get my writings exposed. I guess after the end of this chapter, I'm going to diverge from what rx79guntank had in mind prior to putting a halt to ST. Well, we'll see. I mean... I dunno a lot about wuxia except that I know what they are (Living in Asia will get you to know it at some point since I remember rx79 mention that the flashbacks in the story are based on it.).

For now, let me know how this chapter is through the reviews on your thoughts regarding the chapter. Thanks.

And happy 2019 for anyone reading.


	12. Intervention Again

Spriggan: Solitary Trooper - The Redux

By: Ominae

Rating: T

Chapter 10: Intervention... Again

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

["This is starting to feel like some zombie movie or game that I've seen before..."]

Michael stabbed the downed zombie with his FS knife to make sure that it's down for good.

["You guys the reinforcements?"] Jonathan asked while he prepped his Glock 18C in case he needs to fire it.

["Something like that."] Michael nodded at Mark when he gave the signal that the zombies nearby are clear. ["Looks like we're clear for now, but we'll probably have to move soon. At this point, I don't know if you two can continue your field trip in Fukuoka."]

["You may have a point."] Jonathan examined the various zombie corpses around. He noted that most of them wore various clothing with sea plants on them, which indicated that they may have died due to drowning while possibly overboard a boat or a similar vessel. _Shit..._

Mai tried to get Jonathan's attention by grabbing his right arm and moving it. "Jona-chan..."

"Relax, looks like we got some help."

The masked Spriggans raised an eyebrow when Mai called the former Marine by a pet name.

"But then, how do we get back to the others?"

"A very good question."

["Guys, get down."] Michael motioned to Jonathan and Mai to take cover since they can hear Dorian's voice getting louder and louder.

["Ah shit..."] Mark groaned as he crouched near the bushes. Michael did the same thing while Jonathan told Mai to take cover while using the trees and bushes to camouflage herself in case of more trouble.

["I hear him."]

["Yeah. We still have the upper hand. It's best to ambush him in the bush."]

* * *

Inside Embraer Phenom 300, en route to Fukuoka

* * *

Yu and Jean were on board the Brazilian-made business jet, expecting to land in Fukuoka after 20 more minutes where a company van will be waiting for them prior to heading to Itoshima. They were told by Yamamoto that the driver was already briefed on their op.

"I would have expected that you'd oppose Mr. Yamamato's decision to let us fly to Fukuoka instead of taking the train service." Jean told the young Spriggan as he shuffled around in his seat in order to get comfy.

"You nuts or something?" Yu raised an eyebrow. "Using the shinkansen from Tokyo to Fukuoka is a minimum of two hours. Not only that, but you'll have to expect at least a few stops on the way to the prefecture. And you'll never if there's going to be a roving cop who'll want to stop us and examine our things 'cause you're a gaijin and stuff like that."

Jean simply rolled his eyes.

Yu checked the duffel bag near his feet and started to assemble parts for a Heckler & Koch G3A4 battle rifle. "I just hope we got other guys on the ground before the shit storm comes."

"You'll never know..."

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

"Oh where, oh where can they be?"

Dorian said the line as if he was singing it from a classic children's song. The necromancer still has that smirk on his face while looking for his prey.

He held the knife in a reverse grip, ready to use it in a close quarter fight should it come to it.

"Freeze! Don't move!"

And speaking of close quarter fights...

Jonathan, Michael and Mark ambushed him when they emerged from the nearby bushes. The new Spriggan had his hands full in wiping out the MPA assault element secretly deployed to Unagami. So technically, the only living persons are them. And also Mai.

"Ah... The mighty Spriggans. I have been waiting for an opportunity to fight you in the field."

"Who the hell is he?" Jonathan asked the other two when he raised his sidearm, aimed at Dorian's forehead.

"He's with the Moroha Private Army." Mark explained to the ex-MARSOC operator when he aimed his FX-05 carbine at his chest. "Intelligence has heard rumors of some mercenary with experience in the necromancy arts from the criminal underworld."

"Yeah... reminds me of that magician Heunri Balez in the Iraq case." Michael trained his SAR 21 MMS carbine at the necromancer. "Drop the knife, buddy or you'll get filled with lead."

Dorian complied and dropped the knife as instructed.

"Now you're going to tell us what your employer wants with a poor defenseless girl?"

"Poor? Defenseless?" Dorian could only have at the Spriggan. "Oh boy... If I can only see your masked faces."

Jonathan was really ready to pull the trigger on his sidearm.

"In your line of work, didn't you even consider that even the slightest whispers of myth and folk belief would come into play in our world?"

The trio were alarmed by what he said, but Jonathan was concerned that Mai's life would have been tied to old stories that the old and anyone else who studied mythological stories.

"Keep your mouth shut." Jonathan was ready to shout and put the mercenary out of his misery.

"Don't tell me that I struck a nerve?" Dorian kept his smirk on.

"Hey!" Michael shouted. "Did we say you can talk except when we tell you to?"

"I'm just trying to tell you that this is more than meets the eye... Not that you guys can probably notice at the surface."

"Enough chit chat!" Mark shouted, advancing at him. "Down on your knees and hands behind your head right now!"

The necromancer sighed and complied with the instructions. But as Mark moved in to restrain him, they didn't notice that Dorian was moving his lips. He wasn't voicing it out loud in any way.

He was chanting something that they couldn't hear since he was dependent on using his thoughts and memory of black magic to put it to work once more.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Mark was about to restrain Dorian when he heard someone scream.

"What the heck was that?" Michael could hear the girlish screams.

"Shit!" Jonathan rushed from the bushes to the other end of Unagami, which was far from Itoshima.

Taking the opportunity with the distraction, Dorian reached out to one of the pockets of his suit jacket and threw some small pellets on the ground. They clouded Michael and Mark's field of vision due to heavy smoke.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Michael shouted when he was trying to clear the smoke by waving his hands around.

"Me neither!" Mark did the same thing.

They can hear loud footsteps of someone running away from the area, followed by loud gunfire coming from a pistol.

* * *

Exit Area, Fukuoka Airport, Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Yu and Jean arrived just fine in Fukuoka's airport, accompanied by two ARCAM employees who were able to assist them in getting their bags out from the chartered jet and as a safety measure in case the local police officers inside would accost them and check their things.

"Any details changed with Itoshima so far?" Yu asked one of the suit-wearing men who arrived to escort him and Jean to a waiting vehicle.

"Nothing that we can tell. So far, the inn where agent Harker and the girl were staying it wasn't targeted by the MPA."

A white 2011 Toyota RegiusAce passenger van was seen parked in the designated area meant for arriving airline passengers who have someone to fetch them instead of taxi or a bus.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road."

The sliding door of the RegiusAce opened and Yu was the first person to get in after he opened it. He placed his duffel bag inside and helped Jean to get his duffel bag inside.

["I wonder how our little Marine is doing?"] Jean huffed in English after he opened his duffel bag and check on his Franchi SPAS-12. ["Haven't seen him around much since I got a clean bill of health".]

["I guess we'll have to see for ourselves."] Yu shrugged his shoulders as the employees got inside and turned the van's engines on. ["I'm just worried that he'll do something and blow his cover with the rest of the college class Mai's in."]

A few minutes later, the van drove off away from the airport and taking the road heading to the direction of Itoshima.

The front passenger uses his flip phone to make a call on Tokyo HQ and informed the security department that Yu and Jean arrived safely in Fukuoka.

* * *

Forest, Miyakonoshima, Unagami, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

* * *

Mai had already taken cover near a grove of trees located near the direction of the Genkai Sea, hiding as instructed by Jonathan to wait for help when she heard some weird noises coming from the sea.

"M-monsters!"

The student saw the corpses shamble around as they got out of the cold water. She could tell that their skin and clothes were rotting at best.

Mai tried to look around for anything that she can use for a weapon.

 _Come on, come on. What can I use as a weapon? I need to get away.  
_

The more zombies came on the beach, the more she panicked in trying to find something to defend herself and not get bitten or scratched in the process.

Mai picked up a huge rock and hurled it with all of her strength. The rock, however, only struck the nearest zombie on the chest. And from the looks of what happened, the zombie wasn't fazed by the rock.

"Oh crap..." The student murmured when she picked up rocks and sticks and hurled it at the horde. They didn't do anything to slow them down though.

Before some of the zombies got to move closer to get to Mai, Jonathan jumped out of the bushes and let loose with his pistol. He immediately changed the selector to use it in full auto mode instead of semi auto mode.

"AAAHHHH!"

In this case, it was more than enough to mow down the horde. Of course, he saw that the gunfire was hitting them in the chest. This made them stagger back a bit before they continued to shuffle on.

 _It's not getting them down._

Jonathan raised his sidearm again and changed the selector to make the pistol fire at semi auto. And he aimed the iron sights at their heads not because he's someone who was able to watch a zombie-themed movie. Then again, his time with the Marines on that topic consisted on some of the guys (maybe gals) in the corp playing the Resident Evil games.

 _Maybe this'll work._

The Glock 18C fired again. Some of the initial gunfire did the job in hitting some of the zombies on the head.

"Alright." Jonathan murmured as he kept his grip and focus on firing the pistol at the horde.

Chapter 10 END

* * *

PS - In case you don't know, Spriggan will have an anime adaptation again from Netflix courtesy of David Productions. In case you're also going to ask when it's coming out, the answer is _I don't know_. The mangakas (Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa) are excited for this, according to their Twitter accounts.

Keep an eye out for it in related anime news sites and all that jazz.

I'll have to mention something, I'm using a bracket in a dialogue if one character or more are speaking in a language that's different from the others (eg - If two characters are speaking English while the others nearby are speaking Japanese). I'll implement this as early as possible to make sure everyone can follow. Hopefully there won't be any future confusion when people talk in different languages and stuff like that.

For the meantime, it's kinda short. Hopefully, I can keep it longer in the next one.


End file.
